The Dust Bowl

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In what was one of the most fertile areas of the United States, one of the Nation’s worst agricultural disasters occurred. No rain came so crops did not grow, leaving the soil exposed to the high winds that hit the area in the 1930s. Stretching over a 150,000 square mile area and encompassing parts of five states—these being Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico—the Dust Bowl was a time where over 100 million acres of topsoil were stripped from fertile fields leaving nothing but barren lands and piles of dust everywhere (Ganzel). While things were done to alleviate the problem, one must question whether or not anyone has learned from this disaster. If not, one must look into the possibility that the United States may be struck by such a destructive drought as the Dust Bowl, if not a worse one that would leave us with mass famine and loss of our productive crop lands.

The rich dark soil of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado—an area also known as the Great Plains—formed from thousands of years of soil forming factors in action (Surviving the Dust Bowl). From the beginning of human populations living in the area, the soils, for the most part, remained untouched and unscathed by the plow. Thick prairie grasses covered the area and held the soils in the ground even during the periodic times of drought. This area of land was suitable for grazing practices and it was in this area that the large cattle ranches flourished. Little did the newly arrived farmers realize that this seemingly plentiful land followed a pattern of several years of rain followed by several years of drought and high winds.

Farmers were lured to the Great Plains by the promise of rich soils as dark as chocolate and the promise of bounty....

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...b. 26 Feb. 2011.

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Ganzel, Bill. "The Dust Bowl of the 1930s." Farming in the 1930s. The Wessels Living History Farm, 2003. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

Harris, Richard. "Dust Storms Threaten Snow Packs." NPR : National Public Radio. Public Broadcasting Service, 30 May 2006. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

"Man Made Disasters Part 2: The Dust Bowl." Green Planet Ethics. 14 Nov. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

Schmaltz, Jeff. "Dust Storm over Northern Texas." Earth Observatory. NASA, 27 Feb. 2007. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

Surviving the Dust Bowl. Prod. Chana Gazit. WGBH: American Experience. Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

Worster, Donald. "The Dust Bowl." The Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

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