{
  "id": 12239481,
  "title": "Forests are dying along North Carolina's coast—and it's speeding up",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/forests-are-dying-along-north-carolinas-coast-and-its-speeding-up",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-05T22:00:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-forests-dying-north-carolina-coast.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new study reveals that coastal forests along North Carolina's Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula are rapidly dying, with the loss accelerating after 2010. Over the past three decades, the state lost more than 20% of its coastal forest, amounting to 64,220 hectares (158,700 acres). The majority of this loss (59,000 acres) converted into marsh, ghost forests, and shrublands in the period 2010-2021, which is 1.5 times higher than the loss between 1985 and 2010.\n\nThe primary driver of this forest decline is sea-level rise, which causes saltwater to inundate forest areas, killing trees and transforming them into ghost forests. Ghost forests have increased by 18,700 acres (7,561 hectares) between 2010 and 2021, more than triple the 7,600 acres (3,087 hectares) lost during the 1985-2010 period. These affected areas are typically within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of the coast, and some have experienced a series of extreme events, such as severe drought from 2007 to 2011 and Hurricane Irene in 2011. Despite being protected, these areas have been severely impacted by the combination of extreme events and rising sea levels, causing them to shift into new ecological states like ghost forests.",
  "summary": "A new study finds that coastal forest loss in North Carolina's Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula began accelerating after 2010 and may still be speeding up. The study also found that North Carolina lost more than 20% of its coastal forest between 1985 and 2021.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}