NASA satellite records extraordinary growth of “ghost forests” in North Carolina

NASA’s Earth Observatory has shown off the spooky season with satellite images of ghostly forests seen from high up in North Carolina.

Stunning images show a creeping ghost forest along the coast of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The region is covered with bald cypress forests, but in the last two decades some of these trees have become even balder. Yes, they died. The trees had lost their bark but remained standing, an eerie reminder of the life that had existed not so long ago.

Ghost forests occur when large groups of trees are killed, often by salt water. This is why there are many ghost forests along the shoreswhere trees that normally enjoy the freshwater environment of wetlands can suffer from the inflow of salt waterdrowning them out.

The images below were taken by NASA’s Landsat 5 and 9 satellites in 2005 and 2024 and show how the forest has changed over nearly 20 years. According to NASA’s Earth Observatory releaseapproximately 11% of the reserve’s land became ghost forest between 1985 and 2019. From the air, the creeping growth of the ghost forest resembled an avocado grove that was slowly decaying as brown and black inched inland, replacing what had once been verdant greenery.

Sea level rise is not helping; sea ​​level is rising about 0.15 inches (3 to 4 millimeters) per year in the area of ​​North Carolina where the satellite images were taken, according to the release. This may not seem like much, but it is three times faster than the global average.

“In Landsat images like these, you can also see how the effects of climate change collide with human development,” said Emily Bernhardt, an ecologist at Duke University, in a release. “Over time, marshes change location as sea levels rise, but cypress forests have nowhere to go. They are already limited by agricultural land or other development, so these iconic wetlands are shrinking and dying as a result of mass mortality.”

However, there is no direct line between climate change and the ghost forest in the reserve. According to a NASA release, the major die-off occurred in 2011 after a drought and Hurricane Irene forced saltwater inland.

Ghost forests continue to grow on the East Coast, as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as the Carolinas. If the aftermath of Irene is any indication, the recent deluge is back to back hurricanes in the southeastern United States does not bode well for riparian forests. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but the thought of more coastal ghosts on the horizon this Halloween is truly terrifying.