'Ghost forests' spotted from space, are appearing along Atlantic coast

In an article published in The Conversation by Emily Ury, a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University, it's outlined that "ghost forests" are appearing along the Atlantic coast.

Ury is an ecologist that is studying the response of sea levels rising and the impact it has on the wetlands. An example of this would be climate change impacting the occurrence of floods and landscapes along coasts, which as a result then impacts environmental changes for wildlife, ecosystems, and businesses. Ury worked on a study in North Carolina that aimed at inspecting the effect salt levels have on plants and soil in wetlands.

Ury found after analyzing the salt levels in the soil for two years with her research team that rising sea levels are causing salt water to slowly seep into the coastal wetlands, which are causing trees that aren't tolerant to salt to die. The team of researchers also used NASA's Earth Observing System to get a birds-eye view of forest conditions and found, "We found that more than 10% of forested wetland within the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was lost over the past 35 years. This is federally protected land, with no other human activity that could be killing off the forest", wrote Ury.

If you are interested in reading more about this story, check out this link here.