Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Denver news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Des Moines news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Tampa Bay news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Charlotte news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Locusts swarm from ground vegetation at Lerata village, near Archers Post in Samburu County, Nairobi, Kenya, on Jan. 22. Photo: Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Kenya is enduring its worst desert locust outbreak in 70 years, AP reports, as "hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm" into the country from Ethiopia and Somalia.
The impact: This infestation is destroying farmland and "threatening an already vulnerable region with devastating hunger," but March rains and new vegetation could worsen conditions.
- The United Nations says that the numbers of fast-breeding locusts "could grow 500 times before drier weather in June curbs their spread," per AP.
- Aerial pesticide spraying will cost about $70 million to fight the swarm, the UN says.
The big picture: A warming climate has contributed to the “exceptional” breeding conditions, Nairobi-based climate scientist Abubakr Salih Babiker told AP.
Go deeper: Insect Disturbance and Climate Change (USDA)