In the 1930s there was an extremely long period of drought that happened in the Southern Plains of the United States. Not only did the area suffer severe dust storms that made crops fail throughout the entire region, but it caused the lives of many livestock and people to be taken away. This decade of dryness was known as the Dust Bowl. Although the Dust Bowl only lasted about 10 years, the economic impacts it had lasted for much longer. Some scientists believe it was the worst drought in North America in 300 years. 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
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There were major rising wheat prices in the 1910s through 1920s and increased demand for wheat from Europe during World War I which encouraged farmers to plow up millions of acres of native grassland to plant wheat, corn and other row crops. But as the United States started to enter the Great Depression, wheat prices plummeted. Farmers tore up even more grassland in attempt to harvest a "bumper crop and break even." "Dust Bowl." History.com, 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl. Crops began to fail all over the land especially with the upcoming drought of 1931 which eventually exposed the over-plowed farmland. "The Dust Bowl wiped out nearly any live stock in the area, thus resulting in one of many causes of economic decline." "Economic & Social Effects of the Dust Bowl" Prezi.com, 17 Feb. 2015. https://prezi.com/m9gcen_i0hb0/economic-social-effects-of-the-dust-bowl/. Years of over-cultivation meant the soil lost its richness. Without the prairie grasses to hold the soil in place, it began to blow away. Eroding soil led to massive dust storms and economic devastation, especially in the Southern Plains. When the drought killed off the crops, high winds blew the remaining topsoil away. Parts of the Midwest has still not recovered even almost 80 years later! "When winds blew, they raised enormous clouds of dust. It deposited mounds of dirt on …show more content…
The Pacific grew cooler than normal and the Atlantic became warmer. The combination weakened and changed the direction of the jet stream. "The jet stream is that air current usually carries moisture from the Gulf of Mexico up toward the Great Plains, and it then dumps rain when it reaches the Rockies." "How the Dust Bowl Environmental Disaster Impacted the US Economy. The Scary Thing Is That It Could Happen Again." TheBalance.com, 19 March 2018, https://www.thebalance.com/what-was-the-dust-bowl-causes-and-effects-3305689. But due to the shift in weather patterns, the jet stream got moved south which resulted in rain never reaching the Great Plains. It caused the region to live in a drought for almost a decade. There were four waves of droughts, one right after another. The droughts occurred in 1930-31, 1934, 1936, and 1939-1940. The affected regions could not recover from the previous drought before the next drought hit which made it feel like one long drought that just progressively got worse. The last drought didn't even end until 1940.The drought made it harder to harvest the crops the farmers needed to support themselves financially, so the economy declined dramatically. This was also one of the leading causes of the Great
A drought, also known as the Dust Bowl, affected living conditions on the plains. Some people got caught in the dust storms, and were killed because they couldn’t breathe from all of the dust. People who didn’t have a job was having a hard time getting food to eat. People who couldn’t eat were more likely to get an illness because their body wouldn’t be strong enough to fight it off. Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933, he acted quickly to stabilize the economy and try and get everyone jobs and help the people who are starving and sick.
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.
Poor land management prior to the years of the Dust Bowl left top soil prone to the forces of wind. This all lead to the start of the Dust Bowl where tons of top soil was blown off of the fields. In this area topsoil was one of the most valuable resources. The Storms lasted for about nine years and effected 19 states during the
The Dust Bowl: Between 1930 to 1940, in the southwestern region of the United States, as wheat had become in more and more high demand, Farmers began producing wheat at a much higher rate. Slowly more farmers were plowing fields which made the land basically bare because of all the dry fields. At the same time, some stronger winds were beginning to occur and a drought had come in the region. The fast winds kicked up all the dry dirt from the fields and sent it through the air creating clouds of dust soaring through the air. Nineteen states were affected by this dustbowl.
When the Dust Bowl came it completely destroyed the agriculture due to the severe drought that had come before the actual storm arrived. Some of the farmers managed to actually farm the areas of the drought, but once the storms arrived
The Dust Bowl is an area that was devastated by extreme drought, soil erosion, and economic depression during the 1930’s. The worst of it struck 50 million acres , mainly in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Dust Bowl did a lot of destruction to farm land and caused a lot of problems for farmers. Some farmers called “suitcase farmers” are people who lived and only visited during harvesting time. About 40 big storms swept through the Dust Bowl in 1935.
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.
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
* The dust bowl was a big thing that happened in American history. Believe it or not, it probably could have been prevented. Many of the farmers in 1935 saw the states Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming as a good place to use as farmland.
The dust bowl ruined families and their farms. The dust bowl made food way overpriced and rare to find fresh crops. For example “for a $2 a bushel to 4$ the crops skyrocketed”. ( ken burns ). I pick this quote because it ruined the economy because every crop is higher because there isn't a lot of good crops they were all ruined.
The dust bowl was a man-made and natural disaster that devastated America and messed with millions of lives. To begin the dust bowl lasted for many years. To follow, Farmers plowed fields when there was no water and dried up the land, the crops took all the water, and the drought killed crops. Furthermore, One-third of people lived on farms, they were being kicked of the land because WW1 made the prices fall, and raised how many crops were made.
The Dust Bowl affected many people in The South during the time of To Kill A Mockingbird. Farmers had no money, they were also in poverty in these times. Most farmers moved to California, but others stuck it out. The Great Plains Region was devastated by a drought in the 1930 therefore many states in The South were deeply affected.
The Dust Bowl took place in the 1930’s, which was also referred to as the “Dirty Thirties” lasted nearly a decade. During this time there were severe dust storms that caused major agriculture devastation primarily in the southern plains. Tens of thousands of families were forced to abandon their homes and farms, and relocated westward.
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.
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.