ACID FOG BLANKETS THE OAKS
CALIFORNIA

Sudden oak death is almost always correlated with areas that receive heavy amounts of fog. Many say this is because the fungus likes wet cool conditions, which is true. However, remember that the fog is not just composed of water - it contains a supersaturated mixture of nitric acid, and other pollutants.  Just think of what happens to trees when they are constantly bathed in this vinegar-like solution on a regular basis.  Its no wonder that my sampling shows the trees have dangerously low levels of calcium and phosphorous.

Photo & caption provided by:

Ralph Zingaro
Bioscape, Inc.
4381 Bodega Avenue
Petaluma, CA 94952

E-mail: ralph@bioscape.com
Web site: www.bioscape.com

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Contact Gerry Hawkes: ghawkes@eco-systems.org