First we had the freakish wildfires, dust storms, hail and floods of Australia in the form of nature’s retaliation for the Australians’ abuse of feral cats, kangaroos and camels and the climate by mining coal extensively. Now we have China’s deadly coronavirus, nature’s way of telling humans that they can’t indecently abuse nature’s animals in wild animal markets and get away with it without some backlash at some stage.
Now we have billion strong locust swarms bringing new starvation threats to east Africa. The speed and spread of the gargantuan locust swarms are far beyond the normal. They are biblical in their unrelenting ferocity and devastation. One swarm is estimated to be a billion strong. It is the size of Greater London, UK. A much smaller swarm of several million can eat enough food to feed 35,000 people in one day. Each desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) eats its own body weight in food each day.
In addition there are massive swarms of biting, blood-sucking flies which have killed 60 donkeys. Donkeys have been bitten so badly that they are left with gaping wounds which become infected. Owners have resorted to dressing their donkeys from head to hoof in clothes.
It is expected that the swarms could multiple by 500 times in the March rains which brings new vegetation across east Africa. The swarms add to a already precarious situation of food insecurity because of droughts and floods. Are these also a result of climate change?
The Ugandan agriculture minister, Aggrey Bagiire, blames the pestilence on last year’s heavy rains in normally semi-arid areas where locust breed. Arguably those extra-heavy rains were caused by global warming. I know that you have to believe in climate change but as Greta Thunberg says, check out the science and you might change your mind.
Britain is having freakishly hot summers and wet and windy winters. The weather is noticeably abnormal. I have learned to believe in climate change. When David Attenborough speaks out about it, it is important to listen.
Nature is bigger than the human. The human thinks he runs the world and can control the world. He is mistaken. Nature behaves naturally. It’s a simple case of cause and effect. It’s karma in the Hindu and Buddist faiths. But the concept of karma is widely used by people of no religious faith.
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