Virginia's dying marshes and climate change denial

'Ghost trees' are victims of rising sea levels

Dying wetland trees along Virginia's

coastline are evidence that rising sea levels threaten nature and humans,

scientists say - and show the limits of political action amid climate change

scepticism.

Dead trees loom over the marsh like the bones of a whale beached long ago.

In the salt marshes along the banks of the York River in the US state of

Virginia, pine and cedar trees and bushes of holly and wax myrtle occupy small

islands, known as hummocks.

But as the salty estuary waters have risen in recent years, they have drowned

the trees on the hummocks' lower edges. If - when - the sea level rises further,

it will inundate and drown the remaining trees and shrubs, and eventually sink

the entire marsh.

That threatens the entire surrounding ecosystem, because fish, oysters and

crabs depend on the marsh grass for food.

Trees die as rising salt water soaks their roots, Watts says.
"These are just the early warning signs of what's coming," says avian