The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of violent dust storms that severely damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; Severe drought and the failure to apply dryland agricultural methods to prevent wind erosion (aeolian processes) are to blame. The drought occurred in three waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939-1940, but some areas of the High Plains experienced drought conditions for eight years. Lacking sufficient understanding of the ecology of the Plains, farmers carried out extensive and extensive plowing of the pristine topsoil of the Great Plains over the previous decade; this had replaced native grasses with deep roots that normally trapped soil and moisture, even during periods of drought and high winds. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay The rapid mechanization of agricultural equipment, particularly small gasoline-powered tractors, and the widespread use of the combine harvester have contributed to farmers' decisions to convert arid grasslands (much of which received no more than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation per year) to cropland. During the drought of the 1930s, unanchored soil turned to dust, which the prevailing winds swept into huge clouds that sometimes blackened the sky. These choking clouds of dust – called “black blizzards” or “black rollers” – traveled across the country, reaching the East Coast and hitting cities like New York and Washington, DC. On the plains, they often reduced visibility to 1 meter. (3.3 feet) or less. Associated Press reporter Robert E. Geiger was in Boise City, Oklahoma, to witness the black blizzards of "Black Sunday" on April 14, 1935; Edward Stanley, editor of the Associated Press in Kansas City, coined the term "Dust Bowl" while rewriting Geiger's report. While the term "Dust Bowl" was originally a reference to the geographic area affected by the dust, it is now generally used. to refer to the event, as in "It was during the Dust Bowl." The Dust Bowl drought and erosion affected 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km2) centered on the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and affected adjacent sections of New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas . The Dust Bowl forced tens of thousands of poor families to abandon their farms, unable to pay their mortgages or grow their crops, and losses reached $25 million a day in 1936 (the equivalent of $440,000,000). dollars in 2017). Many of these families, often known as "Okies" because many of them came from Oklahoma, emigrated to California and other states only to find that the Great Depression had made them there economic conditions barely better than those they had left. has been the subject of numerous cultural works, including the novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck, the folk music of Woody Guthrie, and photographs depicting the plight of migrants by Dorothea Lange. Elevation ranges from 2,500 feet (760 m) in the east to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The area is semi-arid, receiving less than 20 inches (510 mm) of rain per year; this precipitation supports the shortgrass prairie biome originally present in the region. The region is also subject to prolonged drought, alternating with unusually long humidity.equivalent.[8] In wet years, the rich soil provides abundant agricultural production, but crops fail in dry years. The region is also subject to strong winds. During the early days of European and American exploration of the Great Plains, this region was considered unsuitable for European-style agriculture; explorers called it the Great American Desert. The lack of surface water and timber made the region less attractive than other areas for pioneer settlement and agriculture. The federal government encouraged settlement and development of the plains for agricultural purposes through the Homestead Act of 1862, offering settlers 160-acre (65 ha) plots. With the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, waves of new migrants and immigrants reached the Great Plains and greatly increased the acreage under cultivation. An unusually wet period in the Great Plains falsely led settlers and the federal government to believe that "the rain follows the plow" (a popular phrase among real estate developers) and that the region's climate had changed permanently. While early agricultural efforts were primarily cattle ranching, the adverse effects of harsh winters on livestock, beginning in 1886, a short drought in 1890, and general overgrazing, led many landowners to increase the area of ​​cultivated land. marginal drylands, the United States government expanded the 160 acres (65 ha) offered under the Homestead Act, granting 640 acres (260 ha) to western Nebraska settlers under the Kinkaid Act (1904) and 320 acres (130 ha) elsewhere. in the Great Plains under the Enlarged Homestead Act (1909). Waves of European settlers arrived on the plains in the early 20th century. The return of unusually wet weather apparently confirmed an earlier view that the "formerly" semi-arid area could support large-scale agriculture. At the same time, technological improvements such as mechanized plowing and mechanized harvesting made it possible to farm larger properties without increasing labor costs. The combined effects of the disruption of the Russian Revolution, which diminished the supply of wheat and other staple crops, and the World War I increased agricultural prices; this demand encouraged farmers to greatly increase cultivation. For example, in Llano Estacado, eastern New Mexico and northwest Texas, the area of ​​agricultural land doubled between 1900 and 1920, then tripled again between 1925 and 1930. Preferred agricultural methods by farmers during this period created the conditions for large-scale agricultural exploitation. erosion under certain environmental conditions. Widespread conversion of land through deep plowing and other soil preparation methods to enable agriculture eliminated native grasses that held the soil in place and helped retain moisture during dry periods. Additionally, cotton farmers left their fields bare during the winter months, when winds are strongest in the High Plains, and burned the stubble to control weeds before planting, thereby depriving the soil organic nutrients and surface vegetation. Drought and dust stormsA dust storm; Spearman, Texas, April 14, 1935 "Thick black clouds of dust rising over the Texas Panhandle, Texas", c. 1936. After fairly favorable climatic conditions in the 1920s with good precipitation and relatively moderate winters, which allowed aWith increased settlement and cultivation in the Great Plains, the region entered an unusually dry era in the summer of 1930.[14] Over the next decade, the Northern Plains experienced four of its seven driest calendar years since 1895, Kansas four of its twelve driest years, and the entire region south of West Texas n experienced no periods of above-normal precipitation until record rains occurred in 1941. A severe drought hit the Great Plains region in the 1930s, leading to erosion and loss of topsoil due to agricultural practices of the time. The drought dried out the topsoil and over time it became crumbly, reduced to a powdery consistency in some places. Without native grasses in place, the harsh winds blowing across the plains lifted the topsoil and created the massive dust storms that marked the Dust Bowl period. Persistent dry weather has caused harvest failures, leaving plowed fields exposed to wind erosion. The fine soil of the Great Plains was easily eroded and carried eastward by strong continental winds. On November 11, 1933, a very strong dust storm stripped topsoil from parched South Dakota farmlands, just one of many severe dust storms that year. Beginning on May 9, 1934, a strong two-day dust storm removed enormous amounts of topsoil from the Great Plains in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl. The dust clouds blew as far as Chicago, where they deposited 12 million pounds of dust.[20] Two days later, the same storm reached cities to the east, including Cleveland, Buffalo, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. That winter (1934–1935), red snow fell across New England . On April 14, 1935, known as “Black Sunday,” 20 of the worst “black blizzards” occurred across the Great Plains from southern Canada to Texas. Dust storms caused extensive damage and turned day into night; witnesses reported that they could not see five feet in front of them in some places. Robert E. Geiger, a Denver-based Associated Press reporter, was in Boise City, Oklahoma, that day. His story on Black Sunday marked the first appearance of the term Dust Bowl; it was invented by Edward Stanley, editor of the Associated Press in Kansas City, while he was rewriting Geiger's report. Spearman and Hansford County have literally been in a cloud of dust this past week. Since Friday of last week there has not been a day without the county being besieged by a blast of wind and earth. On rare occasions, when the wind had calmed for several hours, the air was so filled with dust that the city seemed to be overhung by a cloud of fog. Because of this long siege of dust and the fact that every building was filled with it, the air became stifling to breathe and many people developed sore throats and dust colds. "—Spearman Reporter, March 21, 1935. Much agricultural land was eroded as a result of the Dust Bowl. In 1941, a Kansas agricultural experiment station issued a bulletin suggesting reestablishing native grasses by " Developed in 1937 to speed up the process and increase pasture yields, the “hay method” was initially thought to occur naturally in Kansas over a period of 25 to 40 years. The causal mechanism of droughts may be linked to ocean temperature anomalies. Specifically, ocean sea surface temperatures.Atlantic appear to have had an indirect effect on the general situation. atmospheric circulation, while Pacific sea surface temperatures appear to have had the most direct influence. Human displacement intensified the economic impact of the Great Depression in the region. Dallas, South Dakota, May 1936In 1935, many families were forced to leave their farms and go to other areas to look for work because of the drought (which had already lasted four years at the time). The abandonment of farms and financial ruin resulting from the catastrophic loss of topsoil led to widespread hunger and poverty.[26] Dust Bowl conditions fomented an exodus of displaced people from Texas, Oklahoma, and the surrounding Great Plains to adjacent regions. More than 500,000 Americans were left homeless. More than 350 homes had to be demolished after a single storm. Severe drought and dust storms left many people homeless, others had their mortgages seized by banks and others felt they had no choice but to abandon their farms looking for work. Many Americans migrated west in search of work. The parents packed up their “clutches” with their families and a few personal belongings and headed west in search of work. Some people on the plains, especially in Kansas and Oklahoma, fell ill and died of dust pneumonia or malnutrition. “Broken, sick baby and car problem!” » - 1937 photo by Dorothea Lange showing the jalopy of a Missouri migrant family stranded near Tracy, California. The Dust Bowl exodus was the largest migration in American history over a short period of time. Between 1930 and 1940, approximately 3.5 million people left the Plains States; of these, it is unclear how many moved to California. In just over a year, more than 86,000 people have emigrated to California. This number is more than the number of migrants to this region during the Gold Rush of 1849. Migrants abandoned farms in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, but were often generally referred to as "Okies", "Arkies" or "Texies". Terms such as "Okies" and "Arkies" became known in the 1930s as standard terms for those who had lost everything and were struggling the most during the Great Depression. Not all migrants traveled long distances; some simply went to the next city or county. So many families left their farms and moved that the proportion of migrants to residents was almost equal in the Great Plains states. Migrant CharacteristicsA migrant family from Texas living in a trailer in an Arizona cotton field. Historian James N. Gregory examined Census Bureau statistics and other records to learn more about migrants. Based on a 1939 Bureau of Agricultural Economics occupancy survey of about 116,000 families who arrived in California in the 1930s, he learned that only 43 percent of southwest residents were carrying out agricultural work just before migrating. Nearly a third of all migrants were professional or white-collar workers. The bad economy has displaced more than just farmers as refugees in California; many teachers, lawyers, and small business owners moved west with their families around this time. After the end of the Great Depression, some returned to their original state. Many others stayed :.