Locust devastation

Countries in East Africa are in a race against time to prevent new swarms of locusts wreaking havoc with crops and livelihoods. This is the worst infestation in generations. A lack of expertise in controlling the pests is not their only problem: Kenya temporarily ran out of pesticides, Ethiopia needs more planes and Somalia and Yemen, torn by civil war, can’t guarantee exterminators’ safety. There have always been locust swarms in the region, but unusual weather patterns, exacerbated by climate change, have created ideal conditions for insect numbers to surge, scientists say. If left unchecked, the number of locusts in East Africa could explode 400-fold by June. That would devastate harvests in a region with more than 19 million hungry people, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned. locust criquet / race against time course contre la montre / to prevent empêcher / swarm essaim / to wreak havoc ravager, détruire / crop culture / livelihood moyen de subsistance / lack manque / pest insecte nuisible, parasite / to run, ran, run out of manquer/être à court de / to tear, tore, torn déchirer, diviser / safety sécurité / pattern configuration; ici, phénomène / to surge augmenter (considérablement) / unchecked incontrôlé, non maîtrisé (ici,... si rien n’est fait pour contrôler la situation…) / -fold mutliplié par / harvest récolte / U.N. = United Nations / to warn avertir, mettre en garde.