Trees Dying by the Millions During California's Drought

Susan Murphy reports: "An estimated 12 million trees across California’s forestlands have died over the past year because of extreme drought conditions, according to an aerial survey conducted April 8-17 by the U.S. Forest Service."

A later paragraph makes it clear that the dead trees were found in Southern California forest areas, so the potential for deaths is even greater for the entirety of the state. And the article focuses on the region's forest in places like the Cleveland, San Bernardino, Angeles and Los Padres national forests. In San Diego County alone, 82,528 trees, "mostly Jeffrey pines across Mt. Laguna," have died in San Diego County.

The article also explains how trees living close together must compete over limited moisture, contributing to the mortality of huge numbers of trees during drought events.