Argentina is currently in the midst of the worst plague of locusts in 60 years, causing farmers and fumigators to scramble to get the problem under control, according to The New York Times. Provincial authorities have allied with Senasa, the government's agricultural inspection agency, to exterminate the swarms of insects that are making their way through the nation's dry forest in the north, but their efforts may not be enough - if the locusts develop into a flying throng in the next few days, they will threaten crops and grasslands.
"It's the worst explosion in the last 60 years," said Diego Quiroga, the agriculture agency's chief of vegetative protection. "It's impossible to eradicate; the plague has already established itself. We're just acting to make sure it's the smallest it can be and does the least damage possible."
The locusts first appeared in June in small pockets of the nation and due to the mild and rainy weather, comfortable breeding conditions were created that lasted all the way to the start of winter, leading to a surge in population numbers that trumped the preventative measures taken by authorities.
Last November, the Food and Agriculture Organization, an agency of the United Nations, claimed that climate change would stimulate locust plagues in Africa, although at the time Argentina was not mentioned.
"There is clearly an impact in our country, too," Quiroga said. "We are definitely being affected."
Still, farmers are blaming former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, claiming that she did not take the warnings seriously, although no studies have yet to solidify the idea that climate change is the result of the increase in locust populations.
"We don't know exactly where we're at," said Juan Pablo Karnatz, who represents the farmers of Argentina and has been involved in the prevention effort. "We may have contained some pockets, but it's not a definitive victory. If they fly, it could be disastrous."
Although locusts are typically solitary, they travel in swarms during certain periods of their life cycle and can eat their entire body weight in vegetation - a swarm of 460 square miles can eat 423 million pounds per day, according to the International Business Times.
As of now, Argentina's agricultural inspection agency claims to have controlled 31 new outbreaks of locusts in the states of Catamarca, Santiago del Estero and Cordoba, according to Yahoo News.
