In 1937, aboard slowly-moving trains, the Army National Guard used flamethrowers in an attempt to quell a relentless plague of locusts crossing through Colorado.
But the flamethrowers failed. And so did explosives. The locusts easily endured, devouring farmland.
Over 80 years later, great locust swarms still can’t be contained. Last week, the U.N. announced that desert locusts — the most devastating type — descended upon East Africa, and over the coming months the insects may increase their populations by a whopping 500-fold. “Kenya has not faced a locust threat of this magnitude in 70 years,” the U.N. said. Read more…
More about Science, Environment, Africa, Insects, and Locusts