CBS News
Cicadas are back, but climate change is messing with their body clocks
Billions of cicadas are emerging across about 16 states in the Southeast and Midwest. Periodical cicadas used to reliably emerge every 13 or 17 years, depending on their brood. But in a warming world where spring conditions arrive sooner, climate change is messing with the bugs’ internal alarm clocks.
Scientists believe that cicadas count years through the change in fluid flow in tree roots, and when their year to emerge arrives, they stay underground until the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Spring-like conditions now occur earlier, with the season warming 2 degrees Fahrenheit across the U.S. since 1970, according to Climate Central, a nonprofit researching climate change.
Spring arriving sooner means so are the cicadas. Last month, the cicadas’ return started in Georgia nearly two weeks ahead of schedule before spreading north as far as the suburbs of Chicago. The Southwest has experienced the most spring warming, with locations in Nevada, Texas, and Arizona exceeding 6 degrees Fahrenheit of spring warming since 1970, according to Climate Central.
“In 2021, they emerged 11 days — almost two weeks — earlier,” said biologist Gene Kritsky, who has been studying cicadas for decades. “This is true for Baltimore, for Washington, for Philadelphia, for Indianapolis.”
Cicada watchers used to be able to predict their emergence as easily as astronomers could predict the recent solar eclipse. But that has become more challenging as the cicadas’ patterns are changing as warm spring days happen more often.
ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP via Getty Images
In 2007, a midwinter warm spell in Ohio caused trees to prematurely start growing leaves, making the cicadas think an entire year had passed. Kritsky said this tricked them into counting the years wrong and, when true spring arrived months later, they emerged a year ahead of schedule.
“They had two fluid flows, so for them, it was 17 years,” said Kritsky. “They didn’t detect that there were only a few weeks between. They just detected that the fluid stopped and then started up again,” said Kritsky.
Once they do make it back out to the world, they live for just a few weeks with one goal in mind: to make sure the species survives.
“They come up in massive numbers to overwhelm their predators. So the predators can eat every cicada they want, and there’s still millions left to reproduce,” said Kritsky.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
How to watch the Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears NFL game today: Livestream options, more
Getty Images
The Minnesota Vikings will take on the Chicago Bears today. The Vikings are currently 8-2, an impressive run so far this season, and will be looking to add a fourth win to their current streak after last Sunday’s 23-13 win against the Tennessee Titans. The Bears, on the other hand, are entering this game on the heels of a four-game losing streak after a tough 20-19 loss against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday.
Here’s how and when you can watch the Vikings vs. Bears game today, whether or not you have cable.
How and when to watch the Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears
The Vikings vs. Bears game will be played on Sunday, November 24, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. PT). The game will air on Fox and stream on Fubo and the platforms featured below.
How and when to watch the Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears game without cable
You can watch this week’s NFL game on Fox via several streaming services. All you need is an internet connection and one of the top options outlined below.
Fubo offers you an easy, user-friendly way to watch NFL games on CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC, ESPN, and NFL Network, plus NCAA football channels. The Pro tier includes 200+ channels and unlimited DVR, while the Elite with Sports Plus tier adds NFL RedZone and 4K resolution. New subscribers get a seven-day free trial and all plans allow streaming on up to 10 screens simultaneously.
You can watch today’s game with a subscription to Sling’s Orange + Blue tier, which includes ESPN, ABC, NBC, and Fox. The plan offers 46 channels with local NFL games, nationally broadcast games and 50 hours of DVR storage. For complete NFL coverage, add Paramount+ to get CBS games, or upgrade with the Sports Extra add-on for additional sports channels like Golf Channel, NBA TV and NFL RedZone.
Watching NFL games, including Fox broadcasts, is simple with Hulu + Live TV, which includes 90 channels, unlimited DVR storage, and access to NFL preseason games, live regular season games and studio shows. The service includes ESPN+ and Disney+ in the subscription.
Want to watch today’s game live on your smartphone? If so, NFL+ streaming service is the solution you’re looking for. It lets you watch NFL Network and out-of-market games on mobile devices, with an upgrade option to NFL+ Premium that includes NFL RedZone for watching up to eight games simultaneously. Note that NFL+ only works on phones and tablets, not TVs.