BE PREPARED: >>>/prepare/1 | https:// archive.fo/elYwR
Massive swarms of locusts are bearing down on Saudi Arabia and Egypt as they spread rapidly along the shores of the Red Sea, the United Nations has warned. Breeding along the coasts of Eritrea and Sudan, the swarms are spreading farther afield, with at least one having crossed over the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia in mid-January and more a week later. Swarms also went north along the Red Sea towards Egypt.
The UN is calling on countries in the flight path to step up vigilance and take precautions.
“Good rains along the Red Sea coastal plains in Eritrea and Sudan have allowed two generations of breeding since October, leading to a substantial increase in locust populations and the formation of highly mobile swarms,” the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Friday.
Adult locusts can eat their body weight in fresh vegetation every day and the FAO warned that even a small swarm can eat enough food for 35,000 people in just 24 hours.
A female locust is able to lay around 300 eggs in her short life, meaning swarms can measure miles wide and be made up of hundreds of millions of individuals. They can strip the land bare as they fly through.
Tackling swarms is also made difficult because they are highly mobile and able to fly up to 150 kilometres a day.
“The devastating impact locusts can have on crops poses a major threat to food security, especially in already vulnerable areas,” the FAO said.
archive.ph
strangesounds.org
