Locusts have been reaking havoc on the planet again, since June. The reports have been incredible. These are some of today's.

In the last two weeks.
Mongolia
China
Russia
Egypt (& headed for Israel)
* Maybe More?*
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Locusts threaten crops in southern Russia

http://m.news24.com/news24/Green/News/Locusts-threaten-crops-in-southern-Russia-201507312015-08-01 14:08/

Moscow - Swarms of locusts are threatening thousands of hectares of farmland in southern Russia, state media said on Friday, broadcasting striking images of what they claim to be the worst locust invasion in years.

Darkening southern Russia's blue skies, a locust invasion is raging in sixteen districts of the southern region of Stavropol, forcing authorities to treat about 90 000 hectares of farmland with pesticides, regional officials said this week.

Russian authorities downplayed the scale of the infestation, saying its results would not be catastrophic.

"The locusts have settled in a few corn fields," the state RIA Novosti news agency quoted a spokesperson of the agriculture ministry as saying on Friday.

"About 10% of these fields' crops have been destroyed."

A recent heat wave that saw temperatures rise to nearly 40°C is thought to have caused the invasion.

The insects are now reportedly migrating to neighbouring regions.

"We treat a field, but the locusts fly off to the next one," Alexander Bublov, a pilot of an aircraft spraying pesticides over the affected fields, said on national television.

"This is the first time I see this in my 30 years of work."
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Russia, update 3 hrs ago.

http://youtu.be/U15k-nssPvc/

Ciaro Egypt - Military Video

http://youtu.be/nAun-lpuE2E/

10 hrs ago- CNN - Southern Russia.
Video is 1:26 min

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/europe/russia-locust-swarms/

Locust swarms plague southern Russia
By Matthew Chance, CNN
Wed August 5, 2015

Russia locust invasion plague agriculture farmers
Locust plague devastating Russia

Story highlights
Swarms of locusts plague farmers in southern Russia
Local officials say locusts have destroyed at least 10% of region's crops
Russian news broadcasts are linking the plague to climate change
Moscow (CNN)Millions of locusts have descended on farmlands in southern Russia, devouring entire fields of crops and causing officials to declare a state of emergency in the region.

A vast area of at least 800,000 hectares is currently being affected as the swarms of insects, each measuring about 8 centimeters long, annihilate fields of corn and other crops.

It's been more than 30 years since this part of southern Russia suffered such a dense plague of locusts, according to local officials.

Officials say at least 10% of crops have already been destroyed, and the locust feeding frenzy is far from over, threatening to devastate the livelihoods of local farmers.

Walking through what remains of his corn field in the Stavropol region, one farmer, Pyotr Stepanchenka, looks distraught.

"Look," he says to the camera, "there is nothing left of the corn. The locusts ate it all, from the leaves to the cobs."


On state television, Russian news broadcasts are linking the plague to climate change, connecting the phenomenon to recent flooding amid higher than average temperatures.

Officials from the Russian ministry of agriculture have declared a state of emergency, but appear helpless to prevent the destruction.

They say they are stepping up efforts to save the harvest by increasing crop-spraying flights.

But high summer temperatures, they say, are decreasing the effectiveness of the powerful pesticides they use.

Also, officials say the locust swarms are moving fast across southern Russia, sometimes too fast for the authorities to keep up, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

"In Kalmikya, Astrakhan, Volgograd, and Dagestan, there is already no food left for the locusts, so they have moved on to other sources of food," says Tatiana Drishcheva of the Russia Agricultural Center, a government organization.

"They have wingspans of nearly 12 centimeters, like small sparrows," she added.

Some frustrated locals, facing ruin, have posted videos of themselves desperately trying to hold back the tide. But it all seems futile in the face of such an overwhelming Russian swarm.