The Dust Bowl, which lasted from 1930 to 1939, was a severe drought that affected the American West. It was caused by a combination of drought conditions and poor farming practices, which exacerbated its effects. The Dust Bowl had a devastating impact on the environment, as well as on the people who lived through it.
The Dust Bowl led to the displacement of thousands of people and economic and social upheaval. It also had a lasting impact on the American West, and its effects are still felt today.
The Dust Bowl was a natural disaster, but it was also a man-made disaster: farmers were not prepared for drought conditions, so they destroyed the soil with plowing and overgrazing practices. Farmers also didn’t rotate their crops or keep up with new technologies like irrigation systems.
The Dust Bowl teaches us the importance of stewardship of the land and being prepared for disasters—both natural ones like drought, but also man-made ones like overgrazing practices that destroy soil structure.
