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Published online 7 October 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.978
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Global warming may worsen locust swarms
Ancient records link a hotter climate to more damaging infestations.
Analysis of Chinese historical records stretching back for over a thousand years show that locust outbreaks are more likely to occur in warmer and drier weather, especially in the country's northern provinces, researchers say.
"The results are an alarm bell for yet another serious consequence of climate change," says Ge Quansheng, deputy director of the Beijing-based Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who was not involved with the study.
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I'm wondering how much of a factor agriculture itself is in locust variability. Would the locusts be less of a problem to non-agriculturists, or not?