Many people are most likely not aware of this, but there is a silent transformation underway along the shifting edges of our planet’s coastlines. Once-lush woodlands, filled with cypress, pine, and maple, are being gradually replaced by something far more spectral: the pale, upright skeletons of dead trees rising from waterlogged soil. These ghost forests are the visible evidence of invisible forces at work beneath our feet and in the skies above.
Although they appear otherworldly, ghost forests are not born from fantasy or folklore. They are ecological responses to very real changes: rising seas, saltwater intrusion, sinking land, and extreme weather events.
So, how do ghost forests ultimately develop? And what do they reveal about the complex relationship between the natural world and the decisions that humans make? Click through this gallery to find out.