Forests inundated with salt due to rising sea levels are turning into cemeteries of trees — a haunting indicator of climate change. It's a problem on coastlines across the United States, most dramatically between North Carolina and Massachusetts, where the sea level is rising three times faster than global rates. " because land in the region is flat. In Maryland, the forest has been retreating at a rate of 15 feet a year — and that rate is accelerating.
Ghost forests result from sea level rise and coastal flooding that bring in salt, which accumulates in the soil. Eventually, the salt builds up to levels the trees can't withstand. They die, surrounded by marsh, with no new trees to replace them, Kirwan said. Kirwan's family has lived along Maryland's Eastern Shore for 10 generations. For him, watching the trees die is not just a scientific concern, but a personal loss as communities disappear.
"And so, where I come down is to try to ensure that if we're going to lose all that forest, that we at least get something in return," he said."And that's the marshes."