The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent the aeolian processes (wind erosion) caused the phenomenon. New technology and crop varieties were reducing the time and costs-per-acre of farming, which provided a great incentive for agricultural expansion. “It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own”: A History of the American West. Many accidents and natural disasters have done serious environmental damage to the United States. At that time, little was known of the region’s climate. Men were taken off work programs to enter the armed forces and to produce for the war effort. Humor helped; tales about birds flying backward to keep from getting sand in their eyes, housewives scouring pots and pans by holding them up to keyholes for a sandblasting, and children who had never seen rain were among the favorite stories of Dust Bowl inhabitants. Effects of the Plains drought sent economic and social ripples throughout the country. Learn more about this period and its impacts. Basically, reductions in soil conservation measures and the encroachment onto poorer lands made the farming community more vulnerable to wind erosion, soil moisture depletion, depleted soil nutrients, and drought. In 1933, the number of dust storms climbed to 38, nearly three times as many as the year before. It was the most damaging and prolonged environmental disaster in American history. Even ships at sea, 300 miles off the Atlantic coast, were left coated with dust. Thanks, Scott W. Alexandria, VA. Great question, Scott! Of all the droughts that have occurred in the United States, the drought events of the 1930s are widely considered to be the “drought of record” for the nation. Link, I.; T.J. Woofter, Jr.; and C.C. Fite, G.C. 398, Washington, D.C. Warrick, R.A. 1980. Families wore respiratory masks handed out by Red Cross workers, cleaned their homes each morning with shovels and brooms, and draped wet sheets over doors and windows to help filter out the dust. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Furthermore, during the 1920s, many farmers switched from the lister to the more efficient one-way disc plow, which also greatly increased the risk of blowing soil. Farmers could no longer grow crops as the land turned into a desert. Nevertheless, the drought continued until the autumn of 1939, when rains finally returned to the parched and damaged prairie. Federal aid to the drought-affected states was first given in 1932, but the first funds marked specifically for drought relief were not released until the fall of 1933. 1937. The Dust Bowl Drought: Discusses the natural disaster that led to the Dust Bowl. It was in these years, for example, that the Soil Conservation Service (SCS)—now the Natural Resources Conservation Service—began to stress soil conservation measures. Photo by Arthur Rothstein. These events laid the groundwork for the severe soil erosion that would cause the Dust Bowl. These lower prices meant that farmers needed to cultivate more acreage, including poorer farmlands, or change crop varieties to produce enough grain to meet their required equipment and farm payments. If the Roosevelt era marked the beginning of large-scale aid, it also ushered in some of the first long-term, proactive programs to reduce future vulnerability to drought. A post-World War I recession led farmers to try new mechanized farming techniques as a way to increase profits. During the 1930s, many measures were undertaken to relieve the direct impacts of droughts and to reduce the region’s vulnerability to the dry conditions. The WPA report also noted that 21% of all rural families in the Great Plains area were receiving federal emergency relief by 1936 (Link et al., 1937); the number was as high as 90% in hard-hit counties (Warrick, 1980). New computer simulations reveal the whipped-up dust … The Dust Bowl was caused, in large part, by excessive tillage of the soil. Between 2013 and 2015, the aquifer lost 10.7 million acre-feet of storage. Nelson Hall, Chicago. Mental Health > The Impact of the Great Depression on Mental Health. The term Dust Bowl was suggested by conditions that struck the region in the early 1930s. Many circumstances exacerbated the effects of the drought, among them the Great Depression and economic overexpansion before the drought, poor land management practices, and the areal extent and duration of the drought. "I wonder if in the next 500 years--or the next 1000, there will be summers when rain will fall in Inavale. Several expeditions had explored the region, but they were not studying the region for its agricultural potential, and, furthermore, their findings went into government reports that were not readily available to the general public (Fite, 1966). The 1930s drought is often referred to as if it were one episode, but it was actually several distinct events occurring in such rapid succession that affected regions were not able to recover adequately before another drought began. 1966. The Dust Bowl. The drought’s direct effect is most often remembered as agricultural. The Dust Bowl exacerbated the effects of the Great Depression and sparked the largest American migration in the shortest amount of time. These newcomers were often in direct competition for jobs with longer-established residents, which created conflict between the groups. Affected Texas cities included Dalhart, Pampa, Spearman, and Amarillo. Still, children and adults inhaled sand, coughed up dirt, and died of a new epidemic called "dust pneumonia.". But despite their tragic consequences, none of these events come close to being the worst environmental disaster in the United States. The Dust Bowl was a natural disaster that devastated the Midwest in the 1930s. White, R. 1991. Carl. When winds blew, they raised enormous clouds of dust. The primary impact area of the Dust Bowl, as it came to be known, was on the Southern Plains. The outbreak of World War II also helped to improve the economic situation. The fact that the Dust Bowl happened during the Great Depression in the 1930s, caused even more economic problems for farmers. At its worst, the Dust Bowl covered about 100 million acres in the Southern Plains, an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania. Crops withered and died. As Donald Worster, the leading historian of the Dust Bowl, put it, “In no other instance was there greater or more sustained damage to the American land . Photograph by Solomon D. Butcher. Excerpt from Douglas Hurt, The Dust Bowl: An Agricultural and Social History (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1981), 15, 30. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. Crops withered and died. Clothes in the closets are covered with dust. National Drought Mitigation CenterUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, Study shows ranchers with drought plans in place make some pivotal moves sooner than those who don’t, NDMC's Haigh discusses drought and rancher decision-making on Center for Grassland Studies Podcast, Drought Center develops social media resources to help encourage drought monitoring. And how did the Dust Bowl affect farmers? At that rate, it will be completely dry within a century. The magnitude of the droughts of the 1930s, combined with the Great Depression, led to unprecedented government relief efforts. IIASA Proceedings Series, Vol. After we wash the dishes and put them away, so much dust sifts into the cupboards we must wash them again before the next meal. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, Looking Ahead: Present and Future Dangers, The Story of the Great Depression in Photos, 1864 Sand Creek Massacre: History and Impact. The soil became so dry that it turned to dust. These rains, along with the outbreak of World War II, alleviated many of the domestic economic problems associated with the 1930s. The Farmer’s Frontier, 1865–1900. The depression and drought hit farmers on the Great Plains the hardest. ; S.A. Changnon, Jr.; and T.R. When droughts hit, topsoil dried up and blew away. Sitemap. . The Dust Bowl Tim Egan, a New York Times reporter and best-selling author who wrote a book about the Dust Bowl called "The Worst Hard Time," described that day as one of biblical horror: More than a quarter-million people became environmental refugees—they fled the Dust Bowl during the 1930s because they no longer had the reason or courage to stay. Agribusiness is pumping water from the aquifer eight times faster than rain and other natural forces can refill it. The Dust Bowl had many causes and effects. The weather got worse long before it got better. The impact of this mass migration had both positive and negative effects on California and the country as a whole. Congressional actions in 1934 alone accounted for relief expenditures of $525 million (U.S. House of Representatives, 1934); the total cost (social, economic, and environmental) would be impossible to determine. In 2003, U.S. cotton growers received $3 billion in federal subsidies to grow fiber that would ultimately be shipped to China and made into cheap clothing to be sold in American stores. When drought began in the early 1930s, it worsened these poor economic conditions. Unsustainable farming practices and widespread drought transformed the once fertile Great Plains into a barren landscape, inhospitable to both humans and animals. In the 1930s, drought covered virtually the entire Plains for almost a decade (Warrick, 1980). Once-thriving farms are still abandoned, and new dangers are again putting the Great Plains in serious jeopardy. Drought and Natural Resources Management in the United States: Impacts and Implications of the 1987–89 Drought. Despite all efforts, many people were not able to make a living in drought-stricken regions and were forced to migrate to other areas in search of a new livelihood. Houghton-Mifflin. The Dust Bowl resulted from years of unsustainable agriculture that eroded soils and destroyed native grasslands that held the earth in place. .” Several actions in the 1920s also increased the region’s vulnerability to drought. By using these areas, farmers were increasing the likelihood of crop failures, which increased their vulnerability to drought. If the water runs out, there won't be any for the cotton or the inexpensive clothing, and the Great Plains could be the site of yet another environmental disaster. Federal aid to the drought-affected states was first given in 1932, but the first funds marked specifically for drought relief were not released until the fall of 1933. 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