The Insects Cannot Hold

The fact the map above is entirely green-and-white attests to the success of one of modern history's great international projects: the FAO's Locust Watch. When the project started in 1979, the ravenous critters were a regular menace from Mali to eastern India, in large part because of a lack of information flow—countries were seldom aware of nascent plagues in their neighbors. So the FAO developed a hierarchical system, equipping local officials throughout Saharan Africa and Asia with the...