Many of the effects of the climate crisis are not immediately visible to the naked eye. “Ghost forests” are an exception, and they may be among the most arresting physical signs of the dangers facing areas along coastal plains.
A ghost forest forms when rising sea levels push saltwater inland, slowly poisoning the freshwater trees that depend on it. What remains are the silhouettes of dead and dying timber standing in brackish water like huge grey pillars. In fact, a tree can remain upright for years after death, becoming a pale, leafless snag, which is what makes them so unsettling to look at.
Ghost forests are now visible from space, with vast stretches of coastal woodland dying along the entire Atlantic coastline, from Maine to Florida. Wetland forests store large quantities of carbon, and as they die, those stores are lost, contributing further to the climate crisis. Scientists estimate that around 150 square miles of forest surrounding the Chesapeake Bay area alone have transitioned since the mid-1800s, and the only way to slow the trend is to address sea level rise and climate change at the root. The rate of loss is only accelerating, and the landscapes being left behind are unlike anything that came before.
What comes next remains uncertain. As trees die and coastlines shift, some ghost forests will give way to marshes that maintain vital ecosystem functions, storing carbon and providing habitat. Others may be swallowed by invasive species or become barren entirely, with the ecosystem services disappearing with the trees.
Here are four photographers who have successfully captured ghost forests and the slow devastation they symbolise:
1. Ricky Carioti via The Washington Post
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2. Dave Killen via The Oregonian
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3. John Stanmayer
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4. Mike Basher
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