Time USA - 06.04.2020

16 Time April 6–13, 2020

TheBrief News

Over The pasT few mOnThs, massive

swarms of locusts, one of which occupied a n

area more than three times the size of New

York City, have devoured crops across t he

Horn of Africa and the Middle East, leav-

ing a n e stimated 20 million people at risk of

famine. The first generation’s eggs are start-

ing t o h atch, a nd n ow even bigger swarms

are forming, threatening countries from t he

Democratic Republic of Congo to Yemen,

Iran, Pakistan a nd India, “representing an

unprecedented threat to food security and

livelihoods,” says the U.N.’s Food and Agri-

culture Organization ( FAO).

PERFECT STORM Desert l ocusts a re usually

solitary creatures, but when weather condi-

tions a re right, their populations e xplode.

That e xplosion c an c reate dense swarms

that c an t ravel great distances—more than

9 0 miles in a day—in search of food. Warm

weather and unusually heavy rains in the

Horn of Africa at the end of 2019 provided

the moist soil necessary for hatching eggs.

From there, the insects spread rapidly,

resulting in one of the worst outbreaks t he

region has seen in more than 70 years.

NEWS

TICKE R

U.S. closes

north and

south borders

The U .S. p art ially

closed i ts b orders w ith

Canada a nd M exico t o

nonessential t ravel,

beginning M arch 2 1, i n

an a ttempt t o l imit t he

spread o f C OV ID-19.

Commercial t rade—in

addition t o c rossings

for m edical p urp oses,

education a nd

emergency response—

wa s s till p erm itted.

North Korea

fires two

missiles

Nort h Korea fi red t wo

short -range b allistic

missiles o n M arch 2 1,

the c ountry ’s t hird

test i n a m onth

as i t continues t o

ramp u p m ilitary

capabilities a mid

stalled n egotiations

with t he T rump

Administration. South

Ko rea c alled t he t ests

“very i nappropriate”

at a t ime o f g lobal

pandemic.

U.S. threatens

to sl ash

Afghan aid

The U .S. w ill c ut

$1 b illion i n a id

to A fghanistan i n

response t o t he

continued f ailure o f

President A shraf G hani

and r ival A bdullah

Abdullah t o r each

an a greement a fter

disputed e lections

last S eptember,

Secretary o f S tate M ike

Po mpeo a nnounced o n

March 2 3. T he f unding

may b e r estored i f t he

leaders c ome t o a d eal.

VORACIOUS EATERS A typical swarm, num-

bering 4 billion to 8 billion locusts, can con-

sume in one day the same amount of food as

3.5 million people. Some swarms have been

so thick in parts of Kenya that they have pre-

vented planes from taking off. Governments

have resorted to widespread aerial spraying

of pesticides when available; in poorer re-

gions, where aircraft are scarce, soldiers bat-

tle the swarms with handheld spray pumps,

while farmers attempt to drive them away

by clanging pots and pans.

URGENT APPEAL The FAO has appealed

for $138 million to support affected com-

munities. If the locusts are not stopped

before the next generation hatches, the im-

pact could be catastrophic: the FAO esti-

mates that an additional 25 million people

across the region could lose their crops and

their livelihoods. Scientists in Kenya hope

a new computer- assisted tracking program

that combines satellite data with weather-

mapping software will help predict the

swarms’ next destination, buying regional

authorities enough time to prepare a re-

sponse. But coronavirus-related travel

restrictions have hindered relief efforts as

well as response mechanisms. The locusts

have no such travel limitations.

—arYn BaKer

THE BULLETIN

A plague of locusts

threatens livelihoods

Locusts swarm up from vegetation near Archers Post, north of Nairobi, on Jan. 22

LOCUSTS: TONY KARUMBA—AFP/GETTY IMAGES; ROGERS: SILVER SCREEN

COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES; OLYMPICS: FABRICE COFFRINI—AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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