NOTE:
Worried about
an imaginary
coming climate
crisis, that has
been predicted
since the
late 1950s ?
How about having
a real environmentsl
crisis to worry about ?
You can worry about
the desert locust
-- the most dangerous
migratory pest on Earth:
My first article on the subject is here:
https://elonionbloggle.blogspot.com/2020/01/biblical-locust-plague-descends-on-east.html
SUMMARY:
https://elonionbloggle.blogspot.com/2020/01/biblical-locust-plague-descends-on-east.html
SUMMARY:
First in east Africa,
and now spreading
across much
of the Middle East
There are about
8 billion people
on Earth.
Watching 300 to
400 billion locusts
eating everything
in sight.
This will continue
getting worse
until the dry
summer.
These locusts
are going to
create a famine.
The main use
of the pesticide
lindane had been
to control locusts
in east Africa
World Health
Organization
( WHO )
approval
for that very
long lasting
pesticide was
withdrawn
in 2009.
The long term
consequence
is the current
locust plague.
Which has
nothing to do
with CO2 or
global warming.
DETAILS:
Desert locusts
can travel
up to 90 miles
a day.
Each adult
can consume
the equivalent
of its own weight
in food every
24 hours.
Huge swarms
can be up to
40 miles wide.
UN officials
are warning
that a horrible
famine could
rapidly develop
as a result of
the locusts.
This plague
has spread
from
east Africa,
mainly Kenya,
but also
Ethiopia,
Somalia,
Dijibouti and
Eritrea, to the
Middle East.
In Kenya,
just five planes
are currently
spraying pesticides
to stop the locusts
from spreading
to neighboring
Uganda and
South Sudan.
Experts warn
that without
a lot more pesticides,
the number of locusts
could grow by up to
500 times by June,
when drier weather
will finally reduce
their population.
A faster
response
is crucial.
Pakistan just declared
a national emergency
after desert locusts
arrived in eastern
Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia is now
getting swarms,
sometimes so thick
they almost completely
block the sun.
Scientific American
believes the locust
breeding cycles,
over the next couple
of months, could push
the locust swarms
as far as India by June.
Cyclones that struck
the driest parts of the
Arabian Peninsula
last year triggered
the current crisis,
creating ideal
conditions for
the desert locust
species to multiply.
After breeding in
Saudi Arabia
and Yemen,
locust swarms
crossed to the
Horn of Africa
where they were
given further support
by another cyclone.
The swarms
can increase
in size
twentyfold
with each
successive
generation.
LINDANE PESTICIDE
Repeated negative rat
carcinogenicity studies
were required by the EPA
to maintain registration
of the Lindane pesticide
in the USA.
The main use
of lindane
was to control
locusts in
east Africa,
so sales
in the USA
could not justify
the expense
of the studies.
East African
countries
relied on US
or EU approval
since they
did not have
the expertise
to do the studies
themselves.
A U.S. lobby group
was convinced that
lindane is carcinogenic
and wanted it banned
( maybe they were
supported by an insecticide
competitor manufacturer? ).
Lindane is ideal
for control of locusts
since the chemical
is stable in
the very hot
and humid
conditions
of east Africa.
It was apparently
very successful
for 75 years.
Unfortunately it is a
relatively persistent
pesticide -- they are
out of favor with
environmentalists --
that had little use
in the USA,
and less in the EU.
So EPA approval
was withdrawn in 2007,
and World Health
Organization approval
was withdrawn in 2009.
The consequence
is the current plague
of locusts ...
which has
nothing to do
nothing to do
with global warming.