A locust swarm of biblical proportions is expected to invade Kenya via Ethiopia, for the second time this year.
Meanwhile, an unprecedented locust attack is threatening food security in Pakistan and South Asia, with some farmers saying locusts are already gobbling up their crops and swarms gather to sweep across the region
Governments and the U.N. have warned that the locust will cause major food shortage in the region… Again!
Locusts, pandemics, floods: East Africa, Pakistan and South Asia can’t catch a break!
As deadly flooding leaves thousands homeless across those countries, a second wave of locust threatens the food supplyin the region.
Earlier this week, deadly flooding and landslides in the eastern part of the country killed at least 100 and left over 1,800 homeless. This comes just weeks after flooding in the western part of the country left scores more homeless, too.
Now, a locust swarm of biblical proportions is expected to invade Kenya via Ethiopia for the second time this year. Here a incredible video from Pakistan:
The first swarm was the largest swarm that east Africa had seen in over 30 years, and the worst Kenya had seen in 70 years.
The swarms can move up to 100 miles a day, depending on the wind, and can eat their weight daily. The first generation swarm peaked in the region two months ago, with locusts numbering in the hundreds of millions.
Second generation swarm
This second generation swarm is even bigger and more threatening.
This is known as the second generation of the pests, meaning the first swarm reproduced. This second generation is younger and more aggressive than the first.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), left unchecked, locusts swarms multiply by a factor of 20 per generation.
Practically, that means there are probably trillions of locusts in the current swarm. They also estimate that this swarm is 400 times stronger than the first.
Governments and the U.N. have warned that the locust will cause major food shortage in the region. In its latest locust watch update, the U.N. said the situation was “extremely alarming” as an increasing number of new swarms form in north and central Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.
There are currently 18 swarms in Kenya. Regional governments have asked for financial aid to fight the swarms, but it is low priority due to the current health crisis and lockdown.
The swarms are near impossible to manage, especially without proper gear. As Ambroke Ngetich, FAO Project Officer in Kenya, told the BBC: “Every time you are trying to control in one region, there is another swarm that is happening in a different region and it is not possible to control them simultaneously.”
Thousands of gallons of pesticides missing
Tens of thousands of liters of pesticides haven’t been able to reach the region, as the pandemic closed international borders and disrupted the supply chain. Masses of adequate protective gear, to be used while spraying the pesticides, have also not made it to the region.
Even if the materials were able to be delivered, however, it could be too late. Current solutions have not and will not work, the FAO warns local countries, as the sizes of the swarms are too big for aerial spraying. Further, current spraying practices don’t kill everything, leaving bugs in the ground.
An absolutely unmitigated disaster
The locusts present “an extremely alarming and unprecedented threat” to food security and livelihoods, according to the U.N.
David Hughes from the U.N.’s FAO, told the BBC that the swarms “threaten the food of 23 million people. It is the number one food security issue in East Africa at the moment.”
And, he explains, “when you add on top of it, cyclones or whatever else we’ll have in the next 2-3 months… it’s an absolutely unmitigated disaster.”
The FAO warns that it will be too late to stop the locusts from spreading in less than six months, which would threaten millions with starvation.
Thus far, the winds have kept the swarm in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, which contains lots of open land unused by farmers. But with tens of millions in the region already dependent on food aid, this could turn into a humanitarian crisis quickly.
“The current situation in East Africa remains extremely alarming as more swarms form and mature in northern and central Kenya and southern Ethiopia. This represents an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods because it coincides with the early beginning of the long rains and the current growing season,” warns desert locust situation update report by FAO.
Entire East Africa region under threat
The swarm threatens the entire East Africa region, not just Kenya.
In February, eight east African countries experienced the worst outbreak in 70 years.
Yemen and east Africa are roughly 152 miles apart, separated just by the Gulf of Aden. Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda were worst hit by the swarms.
All of this happens as the Lake Victoria Basin countries of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have experienced abnormally heavy rainfall since October 2019, which has effectively caused flooding, which also threatens food supply.
The East African Community (EAC) secretariat will set aside emergency funds to turn tides against floods and locusts, a new report by ReliefWeb indicates.
Meanwhile in South Asia
In Iran, hopper bands persist on the southwest coast and near the Strait of Hormuz. Adult groups laid eggs in Sistan-Baluchistan where surveys should be intensified to detect hatching and band formation.
In Pakistan, hopper and adult groups persist in Baluchistan, adult groups have formed in the Indus Valley, and hopper groups and bands are present in Punjab. Hopper groups, bands, and adult groups are present on the Indo-Pakistan border in Punjab of both countries.
Migration from the spring breeding areas in Baluchistan has commenced, and several immature adult groups and swarms have appeared since 2 May in Rajasthan, India.
Control operations continue in all three countries. Increased monitoring and reporting are required in desert areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border.
Locusts, pandemics, floods: East Africa can’t catch a break! More biblical news on Strange Sounds and Steve Quayle. [Weather]
Well there will not be food on the planet for 8 Billions of people. They call us useless eaters and all those locust are robots man made so they can attack any where in the world where they want it ? Now regarding election i predicted many months agao in USA. I have told you no elections will be and people will freak out. We are already in un announced civil war in USA and global civil war will be followed and Global Martial Law is coming.
That’s too far in the future to tell,” Kushner responded. “Nothing that I’m aware of now, but again, our focus right now is just on getting the country –.” Pressed on the matter, Kushner added this:
“It’s not my decision to make, so I’m not sure I can commit one way or the other. But right now, that’s the plan and again, hopefully, by the time we get to September, October, November, we’ve done enough work with testing and with all the different things we’re trying to do to prevent a future outbreak of the magnitude that would make us shut down again. I really believe that once America opens up, it’ll be very hard for America to ever lock down again.”
Which, of course, is not “No, the election is going to be on November 3.”
And which meant, of course, Kushner needed to issue a correction clarification — and quickly. “I have not been involved in, nor am I aware of any discussions about trying to change the date of the presidential election,” he said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
Clean up on Aisle Kushner!
Here’s the thing: Jared Kushner is getting very good at this by now. Because, well, he just keeps saying the wrong things. Let’s take a jog down memory lane, shall we?
* “We’re on the other side of the medical aspect of this,” Kushner said in late April of the coronavirus pandemic. “We’ve achieved all the different milestones that are needed. The federal government rose to the challenge, and this is a great success story.” At that point, more than 60,000 Americans had died from the disease. As of today, more than 82,000 people have died, with one influential model suggesting that number could reach 147,000 by early August.
* Asked earlier in April why medical supplies from the federal stockpile weren’t being distributed to states that needed them, Kushner responded: “The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be state’s stockpiles that they then use.” “Our stockpile,” eh? The language on the Strategic National Stockpile website made clear that “when state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts, the stockpile ensures that the right medicines and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency.” In a plot right out of “1984,” the language was changed following Kushner’s “our stockpile” claim.
* Amid nearly nationwide stay-at-home orders Jared and his wife Ivanka Trump (and their three children) traveled from Washington, DC, to a Trump property in New Jersey to celebrate the first night of Passover. (Earlier in the day, before heading to New Jersey, Ivanka had tweeted: “Tonight we gather for a Passover without precedent. The group might be smaller, and the answer to ‘why is this night different’ might be unusual. But all across the world we shall sing our songs of freedom and together celebrate renewal.”)
As it relates to the idea of postponing the election, the key point here is that no one in the White House has the ability to do so. The date of the general election is governed by federal statute. This one, in particular:
“The Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year, is established as the day for the election, in each of the States and Territories of the United States, of Representatives and Delegates to the Congress commencing on the 3d day of January next thereafter.”
Which means that the only way it can be changed is by Congress. And there’s NO way that a Democratic-controlled House is going to do that. No. Way.
So, it’s a moot point what Kushner thinks about the date of the general election. He has absolutely no say in it. Which is why he shouldn’t have engaged in even the most remote speculation about whether the date might change. It won’t.
How will this latest gaffe impact Kushner’s standing with Trump? If past is prologue, not at all!
Following his comments about the “great success story” of coronavirus, Trump called Kushner a “genius.”
Which, well, OK.
Trump has always relied on family — and family alone — to guide his professional and political choices. Which means that no matter how many times Kushner puts his foot in his mouth, he’s not likely to lose his prized perch at the right hand of the father-in-law.
Unemployment is more closely than 45 percent than they claim to be. We have close to 43 Millions out of job in USA today and keep increasing our kids have no future in American dream any more. Our kids have education loans that they will never pay and interests will keep going added. We as societies will down.
This crisis will be at least 2025 and if factories want to work must bring Robots and safer at work. Election no Election in USA? War world 3 with China and Iran or North Korea is on horizon.
Disclaimer always apply