Along with food, water, and shelter, the air we breathe is essential to life. If we do not have clean air to breathe, we will become ill and even die. If we do not prioritize the air we breathe, the pollution tragedies such as what happened in Delhi last November 2016 and the Southern Plains during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s will strike again. Humans’ indifference, attempts to improve their life, or both. Sometimes when people try to improve human life, they end up harming it; in finding solutions to these man-made problems, we must consider short and long term solutions.
The 1930s in the US was a challenging time because of the Great Depression. For settlers in the Southern Plains region, the 1930s was even worse because of pollution from
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The Dust Bowl happened because people moved into the plains, for the US government wanted to expand into the west. The new settlers tore up the prairie grasses for wheat farms. Those prairie grasses protected the ground from scorching heat and long droughts. These prairie grasses were virtually indestructible, growing 6 feet tall roots tightly wound together going 9 feet into the ground, withstanding bison trampling over them day after day (Tarshis 6). After tearing up the prairie grassed, they planted wheat. It was fine for a while, after the prairie grasses were cut up, then the great depression hit and many of the farmers ran out of money. To top it all of a drought came and the ground dried up and dust storms started to form (Tarshis 7). One in particular called Black Sunday was the biggest one. The menacing storm rose up 8,000 feet into the sky …show more content…
“Delhi’s chief minister announced a series of emergency measures, including a five-day stop at construction, a 10-day closure of a power plant, and a three-day closure of about 1,800 public schools” (Barry 11). And slowly but surely we rebuilt once was there. When humans stop caring about nature and not think of the cause and effect of what they are doing then people will die and become sick. Although we may not have cared about what we were doing in the 1930’s there is still time to learn from our mistakes and fix what we have done. Starting now carpool or use public transportation and do not pollute the environment that we so desperately need, plant trees and bushes, because if we mess up again there may not be a second
The livestock was another group that was affected in the dust bowl. When the AAA demanded the farmers to plow over there land they killed 6 million young pigs were slaughtered. Many of those pigs just starved because the farmers were no longer working so they could not feed them. When the dust bowl came money farmers and ranchers livestock were killed and when they cut them open there was only dust in there lungs and guts. The cattle grazing was reduced and millions of more acres were plowed and planted.
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.
The Dust Bowl was a terrible experience during a horrible time. In the 1930s post World War I America had a total collapse of the stock market causing the Great Depression affecting the economy on a global scale, but hitting hardest at home in the United States. However, the economy wasn’t the only thing that was hit hard during this time; seemingly unstoppable dust storms ravaged farming land from the west to east coast hitting hardest in the great plains in the middle section the the US became known as the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was not entirely a causation of bad luck on nature, it was caused by an increasing demand for crops, advancements in farming technology, while the final nail in the coffin was a lack of rain. During World War
Donald Worster is an environmental historian and his book Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s helped to define the environmental history movement as it was the first environmental history book published. He breaks the stereotype of how the Dust Bowl was viewed by writing it from an environmental standpoint instead of writing a social history by focusing solely on the people and their experiences. How it helped to define the environmental history movement is that it opened up this avenue for others to write about environmental issues. He is also an anti-capitalist and this book combines his interest in the environment with the effect that capitalism has on the environment.
Although there are many causes of the Dust Bowl the three most significant causes were the drought, removal of grass and the overproduction of crops in the Great Plains. The drought greatly dried out the land in the Great Plains. Removal of grass was also crucial during World War I because of the demand for wheat, but it was not during the Dust Bowl. By removing the grass it created much more room for storms to pick up the dirt and destroy
“ Some 850 million tons of topsoil blew away in 1935 alone. "Unless something is done," a government report predicted, "the western plains will be as arid as the Arabian desert. " The government 's response included deploying Civilian Conservation Corps workers to plant shelter belts; encouraging farmers to try new techniques like contour plowing to minimize erosion; establishing conservation districts; and using federal money in the Plains for everything from grasshopper control to outright purchases of failed farms.
During the Dust Bowl some people made the decision to stay at their farms. Huge drifts of dirt piled up on homesteaders’ doors, came in the cracks of windows and came down from the ceilings. Barnyards and pastures were buried in dirt. After about 850 million tons of topsoil was blown away in 1935 alone. The government responded to this by saying “Unless something is done, the western plains will be as arid as the Arabian desert.”
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.
During the Great Depression a Midwestern phenomenon called the Dust Bowl affected many lives of newly settled Americans throughout the Great Plains region. Otherwise known as the “Dirty Thirties”, a storm of dry weather caused farmers and villagers to abandon their homes in hope to survive the deadly threat of the storm. The Dust Bowl was a big contributing factor to the Great Depression agriculturally, and economically. During the 1930’s America suffered extreme temperatures. A drought forming across all farm lands due to failure of successful crop rotation cause dust to form.
The three main causes of the Dust Bowl was Drought, amount of land being harvested on, and death of the shortgrass prairie. All of these reasons have to tie in with soil and water. The Dust Bowl was truly the Worst Hard Time in American history. It affected the great plains of america forever and would go down in
It has been 76 years since the dust bowl had ended. The dust bowl swept across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas throughout 1930-1940. Before the dust bowl many people traveled to these states for good land. The dust bowl was caused by a drought and strong winds. The dust from the drought was being blown around by the strong winds and covering everything.
Grass has roots, those roots keep the dirt tied to the Earth’s floor. When grass is pulled up the dust has nothing to stick to. When a gust of wind blows across that dirt it carries it into the air, creating a dust storm. Another cause of the dust bowl is drought.
The dust bowl was caused by severe drought,bad farming and change of weather. During the 1930’s,severe drought,failure to know how to farm and to prevent wind erosions,the aeolian processes. The impact this disaster had on the society was scared,because people didn’t know if they were going to make it. Another impact this horrific disaster had on the society was all of their crops were destroyed.
The Historical Significance of the Dust Bowl In one of the most fertile places in the United States, one of the nation's worst disasters occurred, the Dust Bowl. It began when an area in the Midwest was severely affected by an intense drought throughout the 1930s or what proceeded to be called the Dirty Thirties. The drought killed crops that had kept the rich soil in place, and when the strong root system was not there the soil was not kept grounded. Due to the soil left with no crops, the high and strong winds blew the topsoil away.
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.