Climate change created the perfect breeding grounds for a biblical pest.
On this farm in central Kenya, people bang cooking utensils as they try to ward off an infestation of desert locusts, one of many swarms eating their way through East Africa.
If not contained, agencies have warned that locust numbers will multiply by up to 400 times in June, and their rising numbers could turn the infestation into a plague by the end of the year. This breeding cycle, from egg to mature gregarious locust takes roughly three months and can bring a 20-fold increase in numbers. This can then increase to 400-fold after six months and 8,000 after nine months.
Desert locusts are the oldest migratory pest in the world. Yet extreme weather events linked to climate change helped create the unprecedented scourge in recent times, according to the United Nations. This year, swarms have continued to spread and reproduce through East Africa. They've been seen in Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan -- one of Africa’s most food-insecure and fragile economies. The FAO worries that swarms could travel as far as West Africa in the summer.If the locust outbreak is uncontained, estimated damages and losses could reach $8.5 billion by the end of this year, said the World Bank. Ethiopia is expected to be the worst hit.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Virus, heat wave and locusts form perfect storm in IndiaAs if the coronavirus wasn't enough, India grapples with scorching temperatures and the worst locust invasion in decades as authorities prepare for the end of a monthslong lockdown despite recording thousands of new infections every day.
Weiterlesen »
Virus could push 14 million into hunger in Latin America - UNSigns of mounting hunger are already being felt around the region, where desperate citizens are violating quarantines to go out in search of money and food and hanging red and white flags from their homes in a cry for aid.
Weiterlesen »
UN: Virus could push 14 million into hunger in Latin AmericaThe U.N. World Food Program warns that upward of at least 14 million people could go hungry in Latin America as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, shuttering people in their homes, drying up work and crippling the economy.
Weiterlesen »
It’s Sure Looking Like the End TimesEvery few years, people start speculating that the whole world is ending. And looking around, it’s hard to deny that an increasing number of signs point toward the end times
Weiterlesen »
265 Million People Could Face Hunger in 'Unprecedented' Crisis, World Food Program Expert Warns265 Million People Could Face Hunger in ‘Unprecedented’ Crisis, World Food Program Expert Warns
Weiterlesen »
Kensington Palace Refutes Tatler's Kate Middleton Cover StoryKensington Palace has issued a rare statement today to refute claims made in a new Tatler cover story on Kate Middleton.
Weiterlesen »