Dust Bowl, The Southern Plains in the 30’s written by Donald Worster and published in 1979, is an informative text on the Great Plains during the Great Depression. Donald Worster is a credible author because he not only earned a Ph.D. from Yale in environmental history, but he also had previously written a book on the environment and the economy. This book was written well and Worster did a good job of revealing how people and how they live have effected the areas environment. He spoke of places including, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and many more.
An estimated thirty states were affected by the dust bowl era, and approximately fifty million acres of farm land were devastated in the aftermath (Knudson). Multiple causes led to the Dirty Thirties, most of which were due to wasteful farming practices (Robert
The Dust Bowl was a terrible era for America and took an extended time for recovery. It was a series of dust storms happening from 1932 to 1938 (Jones 1). Also known as the dirty thirties, the Dust Bowl was not the best time to be a farmer considering fifty million acres of farm land was destroyed ("Dust Bowl" 1). "The cause of the Dust Bowl was a mixture of natural drought and poor farming practices" (Trimarchi 1). Even though the Dust Bowl was an important part of American history, it caused much devastation and damage to the environment, people, and the economy.
Eight Months in the Dust Bowl One group of ninth graders was put to the task of surviving one winter, 240 days, in the dust bowl with limited food and water. During this eight months the group of four, two males and two females, had only one cow, one bull, 500 bushels of wheat, and 500 gallons of drinkable water. This group decided that the best way to survive would be that every person would get 2.6 gallons of water to last them 5 days and after that five days pass each person would get an additional 2.6 gallons.
The people that were affected by the dust bowl coped with it by using a couple of options. First they just lived through it and still tried to use the land and make as much money as they could. Or secondly they moved away. They mostly moved west because they knew that the winds would continue to move the dust east. The fact that the Great Depression was going on at the time of the Dust Bowl worsened the situation onehundredfold.
During the Dust Bowl, the dust became a serious threat to health and life .When dust entered the lunge, the moisture them it into mud that attached to the organ. Many people suffered from breathing problems especially children. Livestock also suffered from the dusty air and many died from such unbearable environmental conditions. Scientist predicted that the illness resulted invisible microorganisms such as bacteria or germs that lived and multiplied in dust rather from the dusty clouds.
The dust bowl was a period in the 1930’s of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies. The Dust Bowl was in southeastern Colorado, southwest Kansas, and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas. Eventually, the entire country was affected. In 1931 a severe drought hit the Midwestern and Southern Plains.
Dust Bowl and Economics of the 1930s The Dust Bowl was a very desperate and troublesome time for America. The southwestern territories were in turmoil due to the arid effect of the drought causing no fertile soils. As the rest of America was being dragged along with the stock market crash and higher prices of wheat and crops since the producing areas couldn't produce. This was a streak of bad luck for the Americans as they were in a deep despair for a quite some time.
Poor farming conditions was a major cause of the Dust Bowl, for example, farmers didn’t use a farming method called crop rotation and as a result, the nutrients in the soil didn’t have time to replenish. Also, they burned the grass down which killed many nutrients in the soil. Farmers destroyed the grass because they needed space so they could plant crops. The states of Great Plains, “....southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, and northern Texas—were affected by extreme dust storms and came to be known as the Dust Bowl” (“The Black Sunday Dust Storm: April 14, 1935” 2). During the Dust Bowl, people were affected because of the dust storms.
Caused by a variety of factors, the Dust Bowl economically and socially impacted the lives of thousands. The Dust Bowl affected the entire Midwest. "The worst of it laid waste to the Oklahoma panhandle. It also devastated
The Dust Bowl received its name in April 35, 1935, the day after Black Sunday. Robert Geiger, a reporter wrote: “Three little words achingly familiar on a Western farmer’s tongue, rule life in the dust bowl of the continent – if it rains.”. It was also one of the worst disasters for its time. The depression lasted from 1930 to 1941, and it impacted the poor, such as delaying marriages, dropping the birth rate and many children became sick and ill.
Ever heard of the Dust Bowl? “The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that really damaged the agriculture of the US and during the 1930s. The Dust Bowl was a severe drought that has started to ruin the agriculture. When this happened the states including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico were affected.” ( John Steinbeck ).
After the livestock would graze and leave the land bare and open, then the wind would pick up the dust from the ground and that created the dust bowl. Another terrible add on, was there was no rain. The effect of the Dust Bowl has dreadful. Residents at the time would move to California and make a living there. However, some residents would stay.
As you can see, the dust bowl occurred due to the adverse impact of over-farming methods on the environment combined with mother nature
Livestock could not breath or find food sources. Thousands of people lost their homes due to the storm. Changes in farming and agriculture in the early 1900s altered the landscape and soil creating the perfect environment for the Dust Bowl and impacted living conditions and economic policy. First, changes in farming and agriculture over the years led to the conditions that caused the Dust Bowl and impacted the Great Plains. “Wind and drought alone did not create the Dust Bowl.
