Long Monsoons, Cyclones: What Triggered India’s Locust Outbreak?

How did climate change trigger the recent locust attack in India? Tune in to The Big Story!

Armies of locusts are swarming across Western India in alarming numbers, through farmlands and urban settlements,

(Photo: The Quint)

Pandemic, a super cyclone and now locust attacks. India is in an environmental and agrarian quandary.

Armies of locusts are swarming across western India in alarming numbers, through farmlands and urban settlements, destroying any patch of green they can find on their way.

The first swarms of these desert locusts, the most devastating variety to come from the grasshopper family, entered India along the India-Pakistan border around 11 April, months before their usual time of arrival. And, in the last few days, they have been spotted in huge numbers in Rajasthan

They are also active in Gujarat and other states they’ve not been sighted in before, like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

So, what kind of damage can these pests bring, what measures are we taking to control the outbreak? And what kind of environmental changes have triggered this untimely, unusually big swarm of locusts to attack India? Tune in to The Big Story!