Sudden Oak Death Increases Tenfold Over Past Year in California

Biologists in the California's Bay Area recently reported that the number of trees dead from sudden oak death has increased tenfold over just the past year, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service documented 375,700 new cases of dead live oak and tanoak trees over 54,400 acres, compared to 38,000 dead trees covering 8,000 acres a year ago. The virulent disease is moving into new quarters of the Bay Area, including San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The uptick is believed to have been caused by two years of abnormally high rainfall followed by this year's dry weather.

The disease was first discovered in California in 1995. It kills big oak trees as well as the smaller understory tanoaks. Scientists now fear it could wipe out all the state's big oaks and tanoaks.