'Tree farts' from so-called 'ghost forests' in North Carolina are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, according to experts from North Carolina State University. Dead trees -- also known as snags -- in these 'ghost forests' release carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in trace amounts (as does the nearby soil) that are contributing on some level to greenhouse gases. 'Even though these standing dead trees are not emitting as much as the soils, they're still emitting something, and they definitely need to be accounted for,' the study's lead author Melinda Martinez, a graduate student in forestry and environmental resources at NC State, said in a statement. 'Even the smallest fart counts.'