'Ghost forests' are creeping across NC's coast at an alarming rate. Researchers are trying to stop them.by Jack Igelman, August 12th 2022
Ghost forests are spreading with climate change. The coastal area of North Carolina known as Down East is vulnerable to many climatic hazards. Duke doctoral candidate, Patrick Gray, has found that the evolution of ghost forest is "a slow-motion haunting, as the shifting ecological change occurs over months, years or decades." However, Down East residents don't see these shifts as a threat. Instead, "what people see as an existential threat are the problems of fish politics, development, getting priced our of their communities." This Carolina public press article goes on to state that the protection of vulnerable coasts needs to include the people who live and develop the landscape. |
“Lawns turning into marshes isn’t normal. We’re getting king tides more frequently, and now, when you don’t get a big storm, it seems rare. It used to be the other way around,” said Gloucester resident Barbara Garrity-Blake. Pictured here: A house with a stand of dead and living pines in the Down East community of Stacy, N.C. Jack Igelman / Carolina Public Press
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Photo from blog post. Sunset at Lake Mattamuskeet. Credit: Allie Stewart, US Fish & Wildlife Service
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Our Curious Coast: Adaptation and ResilienceBy Corey Davis and Sheila Saia, July 21st 2022
The last installment in a 5 part blog series. The blog series, created in partnership with NC State's Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Institute, shares the story of North Carolina's coastal plain. This installment closes out the series by looking at the changes eastern NC is facing and exploring the mitigation efforts already in place. |
Sand dunes experience significant erosion due to sea-level rise and extreme stormsBy Alan Williams, July 20th 2022
As sea levels rise sand dunes are moving landward. Due to coastal infrastructure, the migration of dunes is not possible in urban areas which may cause a loss of dune habitat. Researchers are surveying and modeling dune migration. A recent article found that Dunes have been retreating at an average rate of 0.5-1 m per year. |
Photo from phys org article. Researchers monitor the impact of Storm Lorenzo on the dunes at Crantock, North Cornwall, in 2019. Credit: Lloyd Russell, University of Plymouth
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Photo from WUNC article. “Ghost forest” in Nags Head Woods, North Carolina, where saltwater intrusion puts low-lying freshwater ecosystems at risk.
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As sea levels rise, coastal wetlands are expected to change dramaticallyBy Sophia Friesen, July 5th 2022
Researchers at the Wetland and Aquatic research center in Louisiana find that rising sea levels will cause widespread loss of coastal wetlands, especially in North Carolina. As sea levels rise, coastal wetlands will potentially move inland and take over freshwater wetlands as salt intrudes inland, while the original saltwater wetlands drown due to the higher sea levels. |
Research network to link environmental, social sciencesBy Jennifer Allen, June 15, 2022
An overview of our own SWISLR-RCN! The article explains that while a lot of the focus on coastal changes is on the wealthy fringe, this RCN instead focuses on the less empowered communities living in rural landscapes being impacted by SWISLR. The goal of this RCN is to "pull together researchers to study the problem of rural coastal climate change by linking environmental and social sciences." |
Photo from CoastalReview.org Article. A “ghost forest” in eastern North Carolina bears the signs of saltwater intrusion associated with rising sea levels. Photo: Mark Hibbs/Southwings
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Photo from Eurasia Review Article. Ghost forests—areas of trees recently killed by rising saltwater—are a clear sign of sea-level rise and marsh migration into rural land. CREDIT: Dr. Matt Kirwan/VIM
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Rural Areas Will Bear The Brunt Of US Sea-Level RiseBy Eurasia Review, June 15, 2022
A study by Grace Molino, a Ph.D. student at VIMS, Dr. Matt Kirwan at VIMS, U.S. Geological Survey researchers Joel Carr, and Neil Ganju of the Woods Hole Science Center finds that rural areas all along the U.S. coastline will suffer the highest impacts from sea level rise. |
Rising seas, salt water threaten coastal farms, so farmers adaptBy David Boraks and John Upton, June 13, 2022
Rural communities and coastal farmers are experiencing the issues caused by SWISLR in coastal North Carolina, causing new adaptation strategies to be implemented. |
Photo from the WFAE article. Barren areas of a field in Hyde County, where rising water levels and saltwater intrusion have made the land unproductive. Picture taken by David Boraks.
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Photo from the WUNC article
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Rising tides and drainage ditches threaten North Carolina's coastal freshwater wetlandsBy Zachary Turner, June 9, 2022
Researchers are working hard to understand North Carolina's coastal wetlands and how the impacts of SWISLR are changing the coastline. |
Ghost forest: See ecological disaster hitting North Carolina shoreJun 5, 2022
CNN's Sara Sidner reports in North Carolina on the ecological disaster known as a "ghost forest" that is plaguing the state's shore. |
Still from CNN video
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Photos of ghost forests from the Washington Post article.
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The swift march of climate change in North Carolina’s ‘ghost forests’By Brady Dennis, May 12, 2022
As sea levels rise and storms become more intense, scientists are racing to study the rapid loss of trees and marshland along the Outer Banks |