Scientists raise concern as eerie phenomenon spreads across US coastlines: 'We're about 50 years behind'

The Chesapeake Bay has taken on a haunted appearance. Our overheating planet is helping turn the region into a graveyard for cedar, pine, and several types of deciduous hardwood trees, per Knowable Magazine.  

What's happening?

As the world warms, driving sea levels higher, saltwater is encroaching along the world's coasts and into its estuaries. The seawater invasion can overtake the freshwater that gives life to evergreen and deciduous trees alike. It is happening in the Chesapeake Bay, and it isn't going unnoticed. Scientists released a report on the salinization that is impacting coastal ecosystems.

"The impact of saltwater intrusion on coastal forests and farmland is typically understood as sea-level-driven inundation of a static terrestrial landscape, where ecosystems neither adapt to nor influence saltwater intrusion," according to a study conducted by an international team of scientists. "Yet recent observations of tree mortality and reduced crop yields have inspired new process-based research into the hydrologic, geomorphic, biotic, and anthropogenic mechanisms involved."

"When a lot of these forests die back, instead of being replaced with a native salt marsh ... what's actually taking its place is a phragmites marsh," University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne forest ecologist, and coauthor of the Annual Review of Marine Science article, Stephanie Stotts, told Knowable Magazine.

The Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center describes phragmites, also known as common reed, as "a tall, densely growing perennial grass that can take over large areas, displacing native vegetation and reducing habitat quality for fish and wildlife."

Trees die slowly; sometimes, it takes several decades for them to perish. It will take a long time for us to see the full consequences of these lifeless forests. "We're about 50 years behind," said Stotts, per Knowable Magazine.

Why are ghost forests important?

Ghost forests are the remains of a once-vibrant woodland ecosystem that has succumbed to the poisoning of encroaching saltwater. Forests have morphed into marshes during prior periods of rising sea levels. Scientists point out that marshes have some positive attributes. They are home to oysters, clams, shrimp, and certain bird species.

The problem with ghost forests is that they can disrupt the carbon cycle. In other words, forests absorb more carbon pollution from the atmosphere than they release. After trees die, they can eventually contribute to the heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, fueling even more warming.

Living trees can also act as a buffer to storms. Ghost forests increase the vulnerability along coastlines to erosion and storm surge. While extreme weather events have always existed, experts have found that the human-induced climate crisis supercharges these events, putting our communities in even more danger and devastating ecosystems. 

What's being done about saltwater encroachment?

The saltwater encroaching along the world's coastlines is accelerating as our overheating planet drives rising seas. Moving away from dirty energy sources to renewable options will help cool our planet and reduce the rise in sea levels.

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Scientific studies can help illustrate how the buildup of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere is impacting our planet, but getting the word out by exploring critical climate issues and talking to family and friends about them to raise awareness is important. So is supporting politicians who are fighting for the future of our planet.

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