It’s about to get “Old Testament” here.
What if the creepiest,
crawliest,
most catastrophic member
of the Plagues of Egypt
made an unexpected housecall?
And decided your city
was next on the dinner menu?
That’s right.
A locust swarm has arrived.
I hope you’re not squeamish,
as this might get a little gross.
Imagine a massive cloud of shadows
coming over the hill,
covering an area of 40 by 60 km (24 by 37 mi)
with darkness.
Each square kilometer of that monstrosity
is packed with 150 million locusts.
Ugh, I’m going to feel them
crawling all over me this whole video.
It’s estimated that a small swarm of locusts
can eat as much food every day
as 35,000 people.
Big shots in the locust community,
such as the desert locust,
have figured out
this whole strength in numbers thing.
They realized that
“the more buddies you have around,
the less likely you are to be eaten.”
What this means is those locusts
are laying 1,000 eggs
in every square meter of ground,
allowing the newborns to join in on the feast,
and moving together as a massive,
hungry unit.
And it’s next stop
is your hometown.
The first thing to go would be the green areas.
Any gardeners in the audience
can say goodbye to their plants,
flowers,
fruit,
vegetables.
It’s all locust food now.
As for everyone else,
I hope you're not hungry.
Parks would no longer be green
as the locusts would consume all the leaves,
flowers, and fruits.
They even eat bark.
Imagine taking a stroll
down the barren husk
that used to be Central Park.
And if your city has a lot of nice nature areas,
I've got some bad news for you.
The swarm can last for months
if nothing is done to stop them.
Outdoor food markets
would become a thing of the past,
as the swarm would begin a hostile takeover.
You wouldn’t want to leave your home,
as the streets would be covered wall-to-wall
with these little beasties.
But what if they try to break in?
You’d have to lock down your place,
sealing all the cracks
the swarm could get through.
And just because a swarm of locusts
can’t eat up a living human being,
doesn’t mean you’re out of danger.
Locusts,
grasshoppers,
and cockroaches
are common causes of allergies.
When it comes to locusts,
their hormones and pheromones,
the scales that come off their wings and cuticle,
and increased amounts of dust
can all cause a spike in allergies.
So, is there any chance
we could prepare for a plague of locusts?
Well, if a locust swarm came to a big city
in the United States
or Europe,
it's hard to say but
whether we would be prepared for it or not.
If we did catch a lucky break
and were warned of the oncoming swarm,
we could begin a mass spraying of chemicals
and pesticides over green spaces.
That would kill the locusts when they arrive.
A biological control for locusts
is a fungus called
It acts like a nautral pesticide
and kills the locusts from the inside.
Ewww ...
It’s not a sure thing though,
as the fungus is specific to the insect
and doesn’t have a guaranteed kill rate.
So what the heck are we supposed to do?
Is there anything that can save us?
Well,
maybe ducks.
Yeah, you heard me.
Ducks.
Releasing ducks is one way
that people are suggesting
we curb locust swarms.
Locusts are a delicious treat to waterbirds,
and they will eat more than 200 locusts
each day.
But then we would have
a huge amount of ducks running around.
Oh well, they saved the city.
I guess we'll erect statues of them now.
You brave, valiant ducks.
While this scenario isn’t really that plausible,
experts think that as global warming continues,
locust swarms will migrate to more urban areas
in search of food.
In 2020,
locusts have been seen in urban areas
of Rajasthan, India,
which is extremely unusual,
to say the least.
They were also reported in April,
which is months ahead
of their usual arrival time.
We probably didn’t need another problem
to show us why climate change is bad,
but here it is.
Locust swarms will continue,
and they'll get worse
as the climate continues to heat up.
The locusts will expand their range,
and the increased droughts
will bring them together
and spark the insatiable appetite
that leads to swarms.
I'm glad that's over.
Let me tell you,
I am glad to be done with all this bug talk
oh no, what's that sound.
It's the cicadas!
What if you were attacked
by a swarm of cicadas?
Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.