Texas loses 300 million trees last year due to drought, say experts
Experts say that drought claimed 300 trees in Texas last year.
Experts say that drought claimed 300 million trees in Texas last year.
Researchers at the Texas A&M Forest Service found that hundreds of millions of trees disappeared after looking at evidence from ground and aerial surveys.
Previous estimates have put the tree loss at 500 million, making today's stats a relief of sorts, said USA Today.
An extended review using leg work and satellite images showed that the new estimate was significantly lower.
The Tucson Citizen reported that that figure does not count trees that died in towns and cities.
More from GlobalPost: US Drought: USDA to buy $170M in food from farmers for drought aid
Those deaths might include up to another 5.6 million trees.
The Brazos Valley was the hardest hit region with 10 pecent of its trees dying.
East Texas fared best with just 1.3 percent of trees dead, said The Brownwood News.
Last year's drought in Texas was said by some scientists to be caused by climate change, reported GlobalPost last August.
It began in October 2010 and is said to be the state's worst drought in recorded history.
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