Dust Bowl
Could you have lived during the time period of the dust bowl? The dust bowl was a hard time for many farmers. The drought made it nearly impossible to grow anything for people to sell or eat.
The dust bowl was created by the drought when it struck in 1934-1937. The drought killed the grass which made the soil lack the roots as an anchor, “So the winds easily picked up the loose topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds, called black blizzards”(“Dust Bowl”). This dust wasn't just destructive it was also deadly. The dust could kill if people inhaled enough of it. The dust was more deadly to infants and elderly people.
The dust bowl started in 1930 and ended in 1940. It affected many states such as Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas,
This over farming diminished the nutrients in the ground and removed all of the grass and sod holding the dirt in place which resulted in it creating the giant dust storms. Storms like this have happened in the past but not to the same degree. He mentions how the climate in the Southern Plains is problematic as there is little rain and every so many years there are big storms that tear throughout the area. The difference between the storms that occurred before the Dust Bowl, is that there was grass and sod keeping the soil in place instead of just bare earth with shallow roots for anything that managed to cover the earth. Worster claims capitalism and the farming practices are responsible for this as the farmers strive to make a profit without caring about the state of the land is in.
The drought hit there was nothing to hold the moisture or the soil to the ground causing the dirt storms, The Dust
These poor weather conditions led to the Dust Bowl because without consistent rainfall, crops were unable to grow. Without crops growing, acres of farmland were solely covered in dry dirt that was easily kicked up and blown away. If more rain were to have fallen yearly, crops would have had a much higher chance of growing, eliminating the uncontrolled amount of dirt.
Simple necessities such as cooking, eating, bathing, and even walking to a neighborhood store became difficult. In the eight years of the dusty drought, the soils that farmers valued most were depleted and damaged. Here’s why. The Dust Bowl occurred in the Great Plains of America, specifically harming Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico. There were four waves of droughts, but often times the people did not have healing time to recover for their losses.
The dust bowl also featured black dust storms that formed ominous dark dust and soot clouds. With the wind blowing away the prairie grasses that held the soil down, the eroded ground had no defense to powerful winds. (Seaman) A major reason for the Dust Bowl
Luckily Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to shine some light with a new deal. The Dust Bowl was what they called the Great Depression in the drought stricken areas. The condition of the areas around Oklahoma and Texas made living dangerous and futile. “When drought struck
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.
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.
Farmers lost thousands and even millions of dollars in crops and had lots of their cattle killed because of the Dust Bowl. The soil quality was affected horribly, soil prices decreased even more, and the United States sank deeper into the
The first cause is the drought. So much land was being harvested on for crops. How this affects the Dust Bowl is since there was little rainfall for four years(Doc E), if soil isn’t watered it turns into dust after a while. A lot of land was being harvested on, and a lot of land with soil that isn’t watered can turn into dust.
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.
Another big factor of the Dust Bowl was the drought. The National Drought Migration Center that is in Nebraska said: "Many crops were damaged by deficient rainfall, high temperatures, and high winds, as well as insect infestations and dust storms that accompanied these conditions" (University of Nebraska). Nebraska was hit hard by the dust storms and was and is still a big farming community, the drought feed the effects of the Dust Bowl hugely, with high temperatures, dying crops, insect problems and of course the giant dust storms. These things made it extremely hard to live there and to farm, this drove people out for the land looking for new work and frankly, a less dusty place. The drought made it hard to go to school, to make dinner, it made people sick and combined with the over plowing of the topsoil it made dust storms unforgettable to
In the 1930’s, the Dust Bowl caused huge damage to the Great Plains region of the United States. It was an extreme dust storms which swept across the Southern Great Plains area. At the same time, people suffered by a long term drought. The soil was very dry and winds carried off topsoil. Although people tried to stay and live their homeland, many people decided that they cannot do farm work and live their land.
The dust bowl is very serious. “But in the summer of 1931, the rains disappeared. Crops withered and died. There had always been strong winds and dust on the Plains, but now over plowing created conditions for disaster. There was dust everywhere, because the people couldve worried about others than themselves.
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.