The Dust Bowl was a 1930s ecological disaster in the central US and Canada caused by unsustainable farming practices and drought. It led to mass migration and economic hardship, but was addressed by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Soil Conservation Services, which focused on restoring the topsoil.
The Dust Bowl was an ecological phenomenon that affected some of the south central United States and parts of Canada during the 1930s. The loss of arable land during the Dust Bowl led to a mass migration of many families who sought work and a new lease on life in states like California. Many authors and artists documented the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and 1940s, as it was one of the most memorable events of the Great Depression.
The groundwork for the Dust Bowl was laid during World War I when the demand for food began to grow rapidly. As a result, farmers in states like Colorado, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma have ramped up their farming practices to meet the demand. The crops were planted without rotation and the land was heavily tilled and tilled to achieve a higher harvest volume. By the mid-1920s, many of these agricultural efforts were paying off in the sense that huge crops were being generated, but the land was taking a hidden toll that only became apparent in the 1930s.
In the early 1930s, a severe drought struck the region, drying out the upper layers of the already extremely loose topsoil. Strong windstorms fell, carrying the dust in dense black clouds. These “black blizzards” were so dark that the cattle were sometimes fooled into thinking that night had fallen. The dust piled up in huge mounds, sometimes burying homes and farms, and the once-fertile farmlands became barren.
Citizens in the affected regions began referring to their home as the “Dust Bowl” and quickly began experiencing serious economic problems. The Depression economy had already caused many farmers serious problems, and the lack of a profitable crop led to mass foreclosures by banks. Conditions prompted many groups of farmers to become migrant workers, as documented by photographers such as Dorothea Lange and authors such as John Steinbeck. The Dust Bowl’s impoverished migrant workers have become a symbol of the Depression for many people, illustrating how a combination of bad luck and unsustainable farming practices could dramatically change a previously lucrative business like farming.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, he recognized the Dust Bowl as a serious problem for the United States and founded Soil Conservation Services to address the problem. The government agency was one of many public works agencies founded during President Roosevelt’s tenure and focused on restoring previously fertile conditions to the Central American states. By planting windbreaks and growing native plants, the Service began slowly rebuilding the topsoil while preserving what was left. In 1994, the organization’s name was changed to the Natural Resources Conversation Service, reflecting its broader reach.
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