Locust swarms across Eastern Africa are putting millions in danger and threatening the food supply. This plague, which is being referred to as possibly the largest disaster in the last quarter-century, is currently spreading over seven different countries throughout the continent.

Climate Change is mentioned by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Office and by scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology as contributing to the plague and is linked to an increase in cyclones in the Eastern African region.

This increase in cyclones is beneficial to the locusts. Sciencemag.org documented that after a series of cyclones brought unusually high levels of precipitation, “vegetation flourished, and the well-fed locusts increased their population 400-fold over 6 months...and an estimated 8,000-fold by March 2019. The locusts headed to Southern Iran, crossing territory that hadn’t seen the insects in 50 years, and moved East into India and Pakistan. Last summer, many flew South with prevailing winds into Yemen, where civil war prevented any spraying of pesticides. The swarms moved to Ethiopia and Somalia in October 2019.”

On January 9th, Crystal Geyser and its parent company, CG Roxane, LLC, pled guilty in federal court to contaminating the ecosystem with arsenic. Documents indicate that the company illegally stored and transported hazardous waste at facilities located in Olancha, California.

The city of Rohnert Park recently reached a settlement with multiple citizens that filed civil rights lawsuits claiming their property, including cannabis and cash, was stolen during illegal seizures by the Rohnert Park Police Department. The settlement is yet another in a series of court cases filed against a city that has endured multiple legal battles involving its public safety officers.