Swarms of locusts — awe-full and awful

A horror show in August! Not all awe-inspiring phenomena are uplifting — this one surely isn't, but it does inspire a sense of wonder in what nature can do. Learn about some historical and more recent swarms. 

(I don't mention this in the show, but the word "awful" originally meant "arousing or inspiring awe." I think both meanings fit this topic well.)

A few resources:

On the Banks of Plum Creek (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

The Locust Plague of 1915 Photograph Album (Library of Congress)

Looking Back at the Days of the Locust (New York Times)

Everything But the Fenceposts: The Great Plains Grasshopper Plague of 1874–1877 (Thomas C. Cox)

Adding to Economic Woes, Locusts Devastate Crops from South to Central Asia

 

Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseast
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0