But on the large areas of Florida's west coast that have little or no slope, this small increase is converting as much as 2 meters of forest to salt marsh annually. Cabbage palms and other types of trees are falling victim to saltwater exposure, researchers say. The process is happening relatively quickly, especially by the standards of geologic time. Sea levels are rising an average of about 1.5 millimeters each year globally, a seemingly small increase. But on the large areas of Florida's west coast that have little or no slope, this small increase is converting as much as 2 meters of forest to salt marsh annually.
Images shown are low-resolution.
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