Billions of cicadas are about to emerge, creating a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle

"What climate change is doing is causing cicadas to come out actually earlier in May than they did a century ago," said Kritsky.

Still, what scientists know about the climate impact on synchronized cicada emergences is limited because data is limited, according to Getman-Pickering. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events could, however, end up altering when broods come aboveground to mate, which reduces the survival chances of those populations as a whole, as safety in numbers is part of a brood's survival strategy.

"We're potentially going to have more cicadas that are stragglers, and stragglers are much more likely to die and get eaten," she said.

Meanwhile, a handful of daring Americans plan to sauté some of this year's double brood. A professor of anthropology at Montclair State University and Nat Geo Explorer who researches edible insects, Cortni Borgerson will be harvesting cicadas during the phenomena, with the sole purpose of cooking them.

She compares the taste of a cicada to a sunflower or macadamia nut "with a pork-like flavor," and the texture of a peeled shrimp. "A lot of times, insects are eaten as an additive, or powder, or something that's really dry. Whereas these guys you could treat just like anything else," Borgerson said. "Like something that you might be cooking up for a taco."

Cicadas are edible, according to the University of Illinois Extension website. People eat them alongside other bugs-such as silkworms, locusts and crickets -worldwide. Past periodical brood events have inspired restaurants and eateries across the U.S. to incorporate cicadas into everything from ice-cream flavors to pizza toppings.

But just like with any other meat, Borgerson warns that when it comes to food safety, preparation is key. The anthropologist also cautions anyone interested in trying to catch and cook cicadas of their own to collect the insects from historically uncontaminated environments. Heavy metals or harmful chemicals may have polluted the soils they emerge from.

"I always tell people: 'If you would garden in that space, you can harvest insects in that space,'" she said.

Not a fan of cicadas in the kitchen, Kritsky prefers to simply bear witness to the swarms visible during emergence events.

Come May, the Ohio-based scientist will be traveling to Illinois so he can see firsthand the throngs of bugs clumsily flitting aboveground after years below the surface. "It's like having a David Attenborough special in your backyard," said Kritsky.

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