BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

May 2020 BBC Wildlife 29

WILDNEWS

DELUGESUNLEASHEDbytropicalstorms

cancreateperfectconditionsfordesert

locusts,andscientistsarguethatthisis

whatproducedtheimmensecloudsof

billionsofinsectsseenoverEastAfrica,

theMiddleEastandSouthAsiasince2019.

Thecurrentswarmsarethebiggestfor

70 years in Kenya, and for nearly 30 years

inEthiopiaandPakistan,leadingtoclaims

thatChinawouldsendanarmyof100,000

hungryduckstocombatthethreattocrops.

Incommonwithotherlocustsaround

theworld,desertlocustsaregrasshoppers

thatsometimesbreedexplosivelyafterrain

causesa suddengrowthinvegetationand

enablestheirnumberstoriseexponentially.

EastAfricaandtheMiddleEastwerehitby

a seriesoflarger-than-averagecyclonesin

quicksuccessionoverthepasttwoyears.

Manyexpertssaythatthiswasprobably

duetoclimaticchanges,suchasrising

temperaturesintheIndianOceanregion.

However,somelocust-swarm

forecastersarecautiousaboutlinkingthe

twochainsofeventssodirectly.Though

globalwarmingisthoughtlikelytobenefit

locusts,thatalonewillnotnecessarily

resultinworseswarms, they say.BH

Locust swarms

aregoing to

keep getting

bigger

WANTTO

COMMENT?Email

wildlifeletters@

immediate.co.uk

Climatechangemight

triggermega-swarms,

researcherssay,but

provingitisnotthat

straightforward.

Locustswarms

threatencrops

and livelihoods.

Bison: Reto Fuerst/EyeEm/Getty; locusts: Avalon/Photoshot License/Alamy

FINDOUTMORE LocustSwarmChasers

on BBC Radio Four:bbc.in/2xJGVNe

U

singanimalstorestorethe

grasslandecosystemthatexistedin

theArcticbeforehumanssettledthere

between15,000and10,000yearsago

couldhelppreventthereleaseofvast

amountsofgreenhousegases,according

toa studyfromtheUniversityofOxford.

Hugequantitiesoforganicmaterial

arecurrentlyfrozeninthepermafrost

beneaththesurfaceoftheArctic.But

risingtemperaturescouldcausethe

permafrosttothaw,releasingbillionsof

tonnesofcarbondioxideand methane

into the atmosphere.

Thethawcouldbeprevented,thestudy

suggests,byintroducingbisonandhorses

to grazeontheshrubsandtreesgrowing

intheArctic.Largeherbivoreswouldclear

thetreesandtramplethesnow,allowing

grassgrowththatwouldincreasethe

amountofsunlightreflectedbackinto

spaceandenablefreezingtemperatures

to penetratedeeperintotheground.

Theideaisn’tnewbuttherecent

researchsuggestsa large-scale

experimentto testthetheoryis feasible.

“Whatweareproposingis a 10-

year experimental phase to prove the

ENVIRONMENT

Grazing animals could prevent permafrostthaw

TRUTH OR FICTION

?

science,”saysco-authorDrPaul

Jepson.“Thefirstmajorhurdle

willbegettingthefundingfor

it,thenthere’sthelogisticsof

introducinga largenumberof

bisonfromNorthAmerica...But

we’vegottomovefast,becauseif

wedon’tdoit soon,wemissthe

windowofopportunity to test it.”

RobBanino

Wide-scaleintroduction

ofbisontotheArctic

tundracouldmitigate

global warming.

FINDOUTMORE

PhilosophicalTransactionsofthe

Royal SocietyB: bit.ly/331oIq3