The Dust Bowl was the name given to the drought-stricken Southern Plains region of the United States, which suffered severe dust storms during a dry period in the 1930s. As high winds and choking dust swept the region from Texas to Nebraska, people and livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region.
What was daily life like in the Dust Bowl area during the 1930s?
Life during the Dust Bowl years was a challenge for those who remained on the Plains. They battled constantly to keep the dust out of their homes . Windows were taped and wet sheets hung to catch the dust. At the dinner table, cups, glasses, and plates were kept overturned until the meal was served.
What caused dust storms in the 1930s?
Alas, while natural prairie grasses can survive a drought the wheat that was planted could not and, when the precipitation fell, it shriveled and died exposing bare earth to the winds. This was the ultimate cause of the wind erosion and terrible dust storms that hit the Plains in the 1930s.
What part of the US was hardest hit by the dust storms in the 1930s?
Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas , and Kansas were all a part of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. In Oklahoma, the panhandle cities and towns suffered the worst droughts and dust storms (map courtesy of PBS).
Did the Dust Bowl Cause the Great Depression?
The Dust Bowl brought ecological, economical and human misery to America during a time when it was already suffering under the Great Depression. ... However, overproduction of wheat coupled with the Great Depression led to severely reduced market prices. The wheat market was flooded, and people were too poor to buy.
What was the worst dust storm in history?
The worst dust storm occurred on April 14, 1935. News reports called the event Black Sunday . A wall of blowing sand and dust started in the Oklahoma Panhandle and spread east. As many as three million tons of topsoil are estimated to have blown off the Great Plains during Black Sunday.
Will the Dust Bowl happen again?
More than eight decades later, the summer of 1936 remains the hottest summer on record in the U.S. However, new research finds that the heat waves that powered the Dust Bowl are now 2.5 times more likely to happen again in our modern climate due to another type of manmade crisis — climate change.
What states were most affected by dust storms during the Great Depression?
Although it technically refers to the western third of Kansas, southeastern Colorado , the Oklahoma Panhandle, the northern two-thirds of the Texas Panhandle, and northeastern New Mexico, the Dust Bowl has come to symbolize the hardships of the entire nation during the 1930s.
How many died from dust pneumonia?
In the Dust Bowl, about 7,000 people, men, women and especially small children lost their lives to “dust pneumonia.” At least 250,000 people fled the Plains.
Why are dust storms bad?
Dust storms reduce air quality and visibility , and may have adverse effects on health. Dust storms reduce air quality and visibility, and may have adverse effects on health, particularly for people who already have breathing-related problems. ...
What states got hit the hardest with the Dust Bowl?
The areas most severely affected were western Texas, eastern New Mexico, the Oklahoma Panhandle, western Kansas, and eastern Colorado . This ecological and economic disaster and the region where it happened came to be known as the Dust Bowl.
What state was hit the hardest by the Great Depression?
What is often referred to as the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression hit the great farming areas of the US the hardest. States like Oklahoma , the panhandle of Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Portions of New Mexico were devastated. Tens of thousands of farmers lost their lands and had to migrate elsewhere.
Which Dust Bowl hits the hardest?
In Oklahoma, the Panhandle area was hit hardest by the drought. The land of the southern plains, including Oklahoma, was originally covered with grasses that held the fine soil in place. Settlers brought their traditional farming techniques with them when they homesteaded the area and they plowed the land deeply.
Who is blamed for the Great Depression?
By the summer of 1932, the Great Depression had begun to show signs of improvement, but many people in the United States still blamed President Hoover.
Who was most affected by the Dust Bowl?
The agricultural devastation helped to lengthen the Great Depression, whose effects were felt worldwide. One hundred million acres of the Southern Plains were turning into a wasteland of the Dust Bowl. Large sections of five states were affected — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico .
How many years did the Dust Bowl last?
The drought came in three waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939–1940, but some regions of the High Plains experienced drought conditions for as many as eight years .
