US-ENVIRONMENT-WEATHER

A volunteer with Better Beaches OBX drives a truck full of recycled Christmas trees to place on dunes to renourish the beach on January 20, 2023, in Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, North Carolina. - Better Beaches OBX was founded by Donny King in 2013, and the group works to maintain the Outer Banks beaches through dune stabilization and beach nourishment. Placing the Christmas Trees on the dunes will reduce the number of trees going to the county landfill and help renourish and reinforce the dunes. It takes 3-6 months for the trees to naturally bury themselves as sand blows down the shore. The Outer Banks is especially vulnerable to climate change and erosion. Areas of the Outer Banks have retreated over 200 feet in the last two decades and are currently losing about 13 feet a year. (Photo by Allison Joyce / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)