The anomalous heat that these days in the western United States has created the ideal conditions for the proliferation of grasshoppers
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThe anomalous heat wave that is breaking down these days in the western United States has created the ideal conditions for the hatching of thousands of grasshoppers and for the proliferation of these annoying animals.
They arrive in swarms so dense that it almost seems as if the earth is moving, and they cover roads, fields, train tracks without interruption, devouring the grass and all that is vegetal they find on farms and ranches.
An incredible amount of grasshoppers is now proliferating in the western United States, already devastated by an unprecedented heat wave that has caused record temperatures and drought - the ideal conditions for the life of these small and terrible animals, which with their incessant buzz cause pollution acoustic not to be underestimated. Farmers and ranchers in the affected areas are desperate: it is as if a divine punishment had been overthrown, they admit, which destroys the land and crops with incalculable damage.
The radar is lighting up! But it's not rain, unfortunately. Just countless grasshoppers flying as high as 10,000 feet…
Posted by US National Weather Service Glasgow Montana on Friday, July 2, 2021
Grasshoppers are no strangers to these regions however, given the ease with which they reproduce, their populations are generally kept under control to prevent them from harming human settlements. If in recent years the grasshopper communities have been limited by the presence of pathogens, cold winters and food shortages, since 2020 their number has grown more and more thanks to mild and dry winters with little rain, which have favored their survival.
The states ofOregon and Montana they are those most affected by these insatiable insects, but thirteen other states are also affected by the phenomenon, as this map released by the US government's Department of Agriculture clearly shows. According to government sources, the damage suffered by agriculture in these regions exceeds eight and a half million dollars. Furthermore, grasshoppers represent the most important source of biomass in the affected areas (more than that represented by cattle).
Managing this mass of insects represents a challenge for local authorities: they are in fact quite resistant to common insecticides, which kill them only if they are very young; using more potent pesticides to kill adult specimens would undermine the health of other insects
Fonti: CNN / APHIS
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