Source: Hannah Breisinger, WHQR, 6/3/21


Along the coastal barrier islands of the Atlantic coast, maritime forests are home to mammals, reptiles, insects, plants, and migrating birds. They’re vital to coastal and storm resilience. And in areas undisturbed, some of these coastal trees date back to the 1st century. In recent decades, commercial development has threatened these ecosystems. But research shows that another — perhaps even greater threat — is not only clearing forests, but burying them beneath the sea.

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