Russia

North of the Arctic Circle lies a village where sand has buried entire houses.

Shoyna sits on the White Sea in the Russian Arctic. Sand from the coast is carried inland by the wind, building dunes that have pushed into the village for decades.

Several houses have disappeared beneath the sand. Others have had to be dug out when sand reached their windows or roofs. Even today, the village spends money clearing sand from homes and surrounding areas.

For years, heavy fishing and bottom trawling were blamed for setting the sand in motion. New research instead points to a natural process in which coastal sand deposits become exposed and are carried inland by the wind.