In 2024, a double brood of periodical cicadas will appear across the U.S. Some have called the emergence a "cicadapocalypse," but is it really?
Why it matters: Axios Visuals fact-checked the insect hype and found that no matter how you crunch the numbers, 2024 will likely offer just a taste of the cicada spectacles to come.
They're coming. Billions, if not trillions, of a rare breed of cicadas — Brood XIX — are about to crawl out of their underground bunkers, where for 13 years they've been suckling on tree roots, waiting to emerge.
Why it matters: Richmond is one of a handful of places in Virginia likely to experience this wonder of nature firsthand.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been hit by a major bleaching event affecting 73% of the iconic ecosystem, according to a new Australian government report.
The big picture: A "perfect storm of threats" including climate change and the related hottest year on record in 2023 and warmer ocean temperatures, coupled with El Niño, contributed to the bleaching, said Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation nonprofit, in a Wednesday interview.
