Moritz left a comment in a previous post asking about the locust swarm that came over Cairo a couple of days ago and is making its way to the Mediterranean. I didn’t see it myself — they didn’t come to my neighborhood — and I think it was pretty localized. My pals over at Reuters — whose Cairo offices in central Cairo are high up with a great view of the city and the Pyramids (if the smog isn’t too dense) seem to have gotten a good shot, as you can see from the picture on the right.
What was funny is that state TV interrupted normal broadcasts and some minister (I can’t remember which) said that people has nothing to worry about as they were not aggressive. My cleaning lady was there when we were watching it, and, in typical Egyptian fashion, assured me the minister was a liar and that she had it on good evidence from a friend of a friend of her sister’s that a women in her neighborhood had been attacked and that the locusts had pocked holes in her face.
More seriously, the locusts could have done serious damage to crops if it had been slightly hotter — they don’t feed below 30C, apparently. Where they might be causing a famine, however, is in already impoverished Mauritania.
If you want to help, donate to Oxfam which has a program to help with the locust attack.
Gathering swarm
The plague of locusts that has ravaged the Sahel all summer has destroyed 90 percent of northern Burkina Faso’s crops and has now reached Egypt and Israel. International aid in controlling the plague, which is the largest in recent memory…
Thanks, I’ve noted this and made a donation.
Thanks, Jonathan, very generous of view. BBC World did a report from Mauritania a few days ago, it looks awful. But unfortunately it doesn’t seem this is getting much coverage.
I’ve also read a few reports that the locusts may be travelling as far as Pakistan.
Yeah, I’m also surprised this isn’t getting more coverage – it’s arguably the biggest natural disaster of the year. I haven’t seen the pictures from Mauritania, but those from Burkina Faso and Mali are bad enough, and this has been happening since June.
I’ve also seen the speculation that they’re going to Pakistan, possibly by way of the Arabian peninsula.