Name: Why locusts are descending on East Africa
Uploaded: 2020-08-31T18:10:04.000Z
Duration: 5 min 46 s

In May of 2018, something weird happened over the Arabian Peninsula.

2018年5月，阿拉伯半島上空發生了一件怪事。

A large cyclone passed over the Rub' al Khali desert -

一個大型氣旋經過Rub'al Khali沙漠--------。

A massive stretch of unbroken sand also called “the empty quarter.”

一片巨大的未被破壞的沙地，也被稱為 "空地"。

But after the cyclone, it looked like this.

但旋風過後，就變成了這個樣子。

The desert was filled with water for the first time in twenty years.

二十年來，沙漠裡第一次充滿了水。

Over the next year, powerful cyclones kept coming out of the Arabian sea, at a frequency not seen in decades.

在接下來的一年裡，強大的氣旋不斷地從阿拉伯海中湧出，頻率之高是幾十年來從未見過的。

It caused catastrophic flooding in normally dry areas across the region.

它在整個地區通常乾燥的地區造成了災難性的洪水。

but they left behind a different type of disaster:

但他們留下了不同類型的災難。

"聖經中的瘟疫" "A plague of biblical proportions."

"...unprecedented threat to food security."

"......對糧食安全的空前威脅"。

It's a type of grasshopper that lives across this area,

這是一種生活在這一帶的蚱蜢。

Typically, desert locusts spend most of their time alone, in what's called their “solitary” phase.

通常情況下，沙漠蝗蟲大部分時間都是獨處，這就是所謂的 "獨處 "階段。

They really only meet with others to mate.

But if the weather starts to shift – that can lead to a transformation.

但如果天氣開始轉變--那就會導致轉變。

If a normally dry area becomes unusually lush with vegetation,

如果一個正常乾燥的地區，植被變得異常茂盛。

That sudden crowding triggers a hormone – and the locust starts to change, both physically and mentally.

這突如其來的擁擠引發了一種荷爾蒙--蝗蟲開始發生變化，無論是身體上還是心理上。

It starts with a color shift, from a muddled brown color, to a bright yellow.

首先是顏色的轉變，從渾濁的棕色，到明亮的黃色。

Its body shrinks and its endurance increases, which optimizes it for flight.

它的身體縮小，耐力增加，這優化了它的飛行能力。

Its brain grows, and so does its appetite.

它的大腦在成長，胃口也在成長。

They eat, and breed – leaving their eggs in the damp soil.

它們一邊吃，一邊繁殖--把卵留在潮溼的土壤裡。

When they hatch, they form what are called “hopper bands”:

當它們孵化後，就會形成所謂的 "料斗帶"。

swarms of tens of thousands of non-flying but voracious insects that move together as a unit.

成群結隊的數萬只不飛但貪婪的昆蟲，作為一個組織、部門一起行動。

And once they take flight, it's almost impossible to stop them.

而一旦它們飛起來，幾乎不可能阻止它們。

Locust swarms ride the wind, which allows them to travel up to 150 km a day.

蝗蟲群乘風而行，使它們一天的行程可達150公里。

A single swarm can contain up to 150 million insects per square kilometer.

一個蟲群每平方公里可容納1.5億隻昆蟲。

Each one consumes its body weight in vegetation daily.

每個人每天都要消耗自己體重的植物。

In 24 hours, a swarm of that size eats more food than 35,000 people.

在24小時內，這麼大的蟲群吃掉的食物比35000人還多。

Since late 2019, East Africa has been experiencing its worst locust outbreak in decades.

2019年下半年以來，東非經歷了幾十年來最嚴重的蝗蟲爆發。

In 2020, the area has seen swarms as large as 2,400 square kilometers.

2020年，該地區的蜂群面積已達2400平方公里。

That's a swarm of insects over 3 times the size of New York City,

那是一群超過紐約市3倍大小的昆蟲。

capable of eating as much food as tens of millions of people.

能夠吃下幾千萬人一樣多的食物。

The swarms of bugs are so thick that airplanes have been forced to divert their course.

蟲群密密麻麻，飛機被迫改道。

Billions of ravenous insects sweep through areas, decimating acres of farmland,

數十億隻貪婪的昆蟲席捲了各個地區，毀滅了數畝農田。

and threatening already food-scarce regions with famine.

並使本已缺糧的地區受到饑荒的威脅。

"There's nothing left to harvest. There's nothing else that I know how to do."

"沒有什麼可以收穫的了。"我也不知道該怎麼做了。"

And they're spreading. In February, Pakistan declared a state of emergency.

而且還在蔓延。2月，巴基斯坦宣佈進入緊急狀態。

By late May, the swarms had reached parts of Northern India for the first time since 1962.

到5月下旬，蟲群自1962年以來首次到達印度北部部分地區。

And the biggest factor in all of this is the weather.

而這一切的最大因素就是天氣。

Locusts reproduce exponentially when the weather is in their favor.

蝗蟲在天氣好的時候，會成倍地繁殖。

With every new generation, the population increases 20-fold.

每更新一代，人口就增加20倍。

So if a normally dry area stays wet for a long time,

所以，如果一個正常乾燥的地區長期保持潮溼。

And that's what researchers think happened, starting with the 2018 cyclone.

而這就是研究人員認為發生的事情，從2018年的氣旋開始。

The unusual amount of rain led to an unusual amount of vegetation,

異常多的雨水導致了異常多的植被。

which led to an unusual number of new locusts.

Swarms formed here, in the unusually wet desert, and made their way into surrounding areas,

在這裡，在異常潮溼的沙漠中，形成了蜂群，並向周邊地區擴散。

including East Africa, which itself had just experienced historic flooding in late 2019,

包括東非，而東非本身在2019年底剛剛經歷了歷史性的洪災。

from heavy rains caused by an unusually warm Indian Ocean.

由於印度洋異常溫暖造成的暴雨。

A single “perfect storm” isn't enough to bring in swarms of locusts of this size.

一場 "完美風暴 "並不足以引來如此規模的蝗蟲群。

something that used to be really rare in this area.

以前在這個地區真的很少見的東西。

But unfortunately, extreme weather that used to be really rare suddenly becoming more common

但不幸的是，以前很少見的極端天氣突然變得越來越常見了。

is one of the hallmarks of climate change.

That could mean a future with more cyclones in the desert,

這可能意味著未來沙漠中會有更多的氣旋。

在曾經有沙子的地方，多了一些綠色。

Do you ever notice these weirdly specific targeted ads when browsing the internet?

在瀏覽互聯網時，你有沒有注意到這些奇怪的特定目標廣告？

It's a little creepy when they even pinpoint where you live.

當他們連你住在哪裡都能準確定位時，這就有點令人毛骨悚然了。

That's because one of the ways advertisers target you is through your IP address.

這是因為廣告商鎖定你的方式之一就是通過你的IP地址。

See, each of your devices has its own unique number.

你看，你的每臺設備都有自己獨特的編號。

So while your internet may be password protected,

所以，雖然你的互聯網可能有密碼保護。

your IP address is available for advertisers to look at

這就是他們如何找到你的位置。

ExpressVPN is a tool that masks your IP address.

ExpressVPN是一個屏蔽你的IP地址的工具。

They let you select from over 90 different countries to reroute your connection through,

他們讓你從90多個不同的國家選擇重新路由連接。

so it makes it seem like all your web activity

是以，它使它看起來像你所有的網絡活動。

is coming from a different IP address somewhere else in the world.

是來自世界其他地方的不同IP地址。

One click not only encrypts your data but lets you browse the web anonymously.

一鍵不僅可以對你的數據進行加密，還可以讓你匿名瀏覽網頁。

ExpressVPN does not affect our editorial, but their support does make videos like this one possible.

ExpressVPN不影響我們的編輯，但他們的支持確實使像這樣的視頻成為可能。

or click on the link in the description below to find out how to get three months free.

或點擊下面描述中的鏈接，瞭解如何獲得三個月的免費。

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Why locusts are descending on East Africa

devastating

unprecedented

appetite

consume