Editing Dust Bowl

[[Image:Dust Storm Texas 1935.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Dust storm approaching [[Stratford, Texas]], in [[1935]].]]
The '''Dust Bowl''' was the result of a series of [[dust storm]]s in the central [[United States]] and [[Canada]] from [[1931]] to [[1939]][http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2004/0319dustbowl.html], caused by decades of inappropriate farming techniques, with buffalo herds that fertilized the soil displaced by wheat farming, followed by a severe [[drought]]. The fertile soil of the [[Great Plains]] was exposed through removal of grass during plowing. During the drought, the [[soil]] dried out, became [[dust]], and blew away eastwards, mostly in large black clouds. At times, the clouds blackened the sky all the way to [[Chicago]], and much of the soil was completely lost into the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. This ecological disaster caused an exodus from [[Texas]], [[Arkansas]], [[Oklahoma Panhandle|Oklahoma]], and the surrounding [[Great Plains]], with over 500,000 Americans left homeless.[http://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/gregory.htm] Many migrated west looking for work.
Koolio

==Background==

[[image:Wea01422.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dust storm]] in [[Spearman, Texas]], [[April 14]], [[1935]].]]

It is well known that there was economic instability in agriculture during the [[1930s]], due to overproduction following [[World War I]]. National and international market forces during the war had caused farmers to push the agricultural frontier beyond its natural limits. Increasingly, marginal land that would now be considered unsuitable for use was developed to capture profits from the war.

With their land barren and homes foreclosed for unpayable debts, many farm families gave up and left. The migration was drastic; 15% of the state of [[Oklahoma]] moved west, and the migrants were generally referred to as "[[Okie]]s," whether or not they were from Oklahoma. High-end estimates for the number of displaced Americans are as high as 2.5 million, but the lower value of 300,000 to 400,000 is more probable, based upon the 2.3 million population of Oklahoma at the time.   

{{clear}}[[Image:Dallas South Dakota 1936.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Buried machinery in barn lot. [[Dallas, South Dakota]], May [[1936]]]]
On [[November 11]], [[1933]], a very strong dust storm stripped [[topsoil]] from desiccated [[South Dakota]] farmlands in just one of a series of disastrous dust storms that year. Then on [[May 11]], [[1934]], a strong two-day dust storm removed massive amounts of [[Great Plains]] [[topsoil]] in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl. The dust clouds blew all the way to [[Chicago]] where filth fell like snow, dumping the equivalent of four pounds of debris per person on the city. Several days later, the same storm reached cities in the east, such as [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Boston]], [[New York City]], and [[Washington, D.C.]]. That winter, red snow fell on [[New England]].

On [[April 14]], [[1935]] known as "Black Sunday", one of the worst "Black Blizzards" occurred throughout the Dust Bowl, causing extensive damage, turning the day to night. Witnesses reported that they could not see five feet in front of them at certain points.

During [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s first 100 days, governmental programs to restore the ecologic balance of the nation were implemented. The U.S. Government was to form the Soil Conservation Service, now the [[Natural Resources Conservation Service]].

The human crisis was documented by [[photographer]]s from the [[Farm Security Administration]]; among which the most famous was [[Dorothea Lange]].

==See also==
*[[1936 North American heat wave]]
*[[Woody Guthrie]]
* ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]''
* [[Great Depression]]
* [[Rain follows the plow]]
* [[The Plow That Broke the Plains]]
* [[Timeline of environmental events]]

==Further reading==
*''The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived The Great American Dust Bowl'', Timothy Egan, Houghton Miflin Company, New York, 2006, hardcover, ISBN 0-618-34697-X.
*''The Dust Bowl: Men, Dirt, and Depression'', , Paul Bonnifield, [[University of New Mexico]] Press, [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], [[New Mexico]], 1978, hardcover, ISBN 0-8263-0485-0
*''Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas, 1935'', Katelan Janke, Scholastic (September 2002), ISBN 0-439-21599-4
*''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'', [[John Steinbeck]], The Viking Press. [[New York City|New York]] First Edition, 1939.
*''[[Out of the Dust]]'', [[Karen Hesse]], Scholastic Signature. [[New York City|New York]] First Edition, 1997. hardcover (paperback January 1999) ISBN 0-590-37125-8

==External links==
*[http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0319dustbowl.html NASA Explains "Dust Bowl" Drought]
*[http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html ''The Dust Bowl'' photo collection]
*[http://eh.net/encyclopedia/?article=Cunfer.DustBowl The Dust Bowl] (EH.Net Encyclopedia)
*[http://www.kansashistory.us/dustbowl.html Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, Dodge City, KS]
*[http://www.wilmaelizabethmcdaniel.com/ Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, an "Okie Poet" who migrated to California during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.]
*[http://www.lbk.ars.usda.gov/wewc/biblio/bar.htm The Bibliography of Aeolian Research]

[[Category:Great Depression in the United States]]
[[Category:Agriculture in the United States]]
[[Category:Great migrations]]
[[Category:Disasters in the United States|Dust Bowl]]
[[Category:History of the American West]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters|Dust Bowl]]
[[Category:History of the United States (1918–1945)]]
[[Category:Natural history of the United States]]
[[Category:Droughts]]

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