this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2024
105 points (94.9% liked)
science
15021 readers
778 users here now
A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.
rule #1: be kind
<--- rules currently under construction, see current pinned post.
2024-11-11
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/28/us/cicada-brood-x.html
Literally every couple years, we get the "super brood" and it's always treated as "once in a lifetime".
But they're already becoming more varied.
https://weather.com/science/nature/news/cicadas-brood-x-early-emergence-climate-change
Because some always pop out. If there's not enough predators, they reproduce and start another brood. Over time it gets it's own cycle.
But even on the boom years (which happen like every 5 years now) more are surviving
It won't take long for there to be an insane amount of cicadas every year.
Without as much wildlife to eat them, they will over produce and destroy trees that normally would have survived.
This is a serious thing and by the time we even realize it, it'll be too late. Because they eat the roots from underground for years. B