Research Highlights

• Subject Category:
  • Earth & environment

Published online: 30 September 2009 | doi:10.1038/nchina.2009.189

Climate change: The coming plague

Felix Cheung

Introduction

© (2009) istockphoto.com/Ruvan Boshoff

Global warming is causing climates to change, lakes to dry up and less rain to fall. Ge Yu and co-workers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Nanjing¹ have examined the impacts of climate variations on past locust outbreaks in China over the last 1,000 years. Their data suggest that severe locust outbreaks may become more common as the climate becomes warmer and drier.

In China, severe locust hazards mostly occur in the middle–lower reaches of Yellow River (the northern region) and Yangtze River (the southern region). The researchers studied historical records of locust outbreaks in these two regions. They found that over the last 100 years, severe locust outbreaks generally happen in 'warm' years: when the northern region experiences warm, dry summers and warm, wet winters or when the southern region experiences warm, wet springs. The warm temperatures supposedly help preserve locust eggs in cold weather and provide optimum conditions for locusts to multiply and spread.

The researchers also found correlations between locust outbreaks and changes in temperatures and precipitation. Some of the most severe locust outbreaks in the past 1,000 years, for example, are associated with highs in the interannual and decadal mean temperature. Given that China is the largest agricultural nation in the world, the findings hint at a looming threat that needs to be addressed to ensure global food security.

The authors of this work are from:
Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.

Reference

1. Yu, G., Shen, H. & Liu, J. Impacts of climate change on historical locust outbreaks in China. J. Geophys. Res. 114, D18104 (2009).
    | Article | OpenURL