The Most Devastating Dust Storm Ever

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Recommended: The significance of the dust bowl on farmers

The Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s was one of the worst environmental disasters of the Twentieth Century anywhere in the world (Cook). The Dust Bowl killed many crops and made normal life hard, like breathing, eating, and sleeping. Since it destroyed a large part of agriculture production, it contributed towards the Great Depression (Amadeo). In order for us to better understand what the Dust Bowl was like, one must first look at what this natural disaster was, what the effects of it were, and the aftermath of it.

As it is illustrated in an article written by Rachelle Oblack, “One of the worst climatic events in the history of the United States was the “Dust Bowl” drought which devastated the United States central states region known as the Great Plains (Oblack).” It tore through the middle of the United States killing or harming anything in its way. The rest of the country was fortunate to escape the horrible Dust Bowl threat. If it had spread throughout the whole country it would have killed almost all crops, and left the country poverty stricken and starving.

Another reason the Dust Bowl was such a disaster was because it lasted longer than any other natural disaster at the time. In an article titled “About the Dust Bowl” it illustrates that, “For eight years the dust blew on the southern plains. It came in a yellowish-brown haze from the South and in rolling walls of black from the North (About the Dust Bowl).” Its main cause was too many irresponsible farmers who settled during World War I. Many inexperienced people became farmers during World War I mainly because it was a highly profitable job at the time. In Kimberly Amadeo’s article, she states that

The prairies of the Midwest were originally protected...

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...www.nasa.gov. NASA. 18 March, 2004. Web. 27 Nov., 2011.

Trimarchi, Maria. “What Caused the Dust Bowl?” http://science.howstuffwork s.com. A Discovery Company. n.d. Web. 12 Nov., 2011.

Trimarchi, Maria. “Effects of the Dust Bowl.” http://science.howstuffworks.com. A Discovery Company. n.d. Web. 27 Nov., 2011.

Vance, Mary. “Causes of the Dust Bowl.” www.helium.com. Helium. 12 Jan., 2008. Web. 27 Nov., 2011.

Welch, Carolyn. “Causes of the Dust Bowl Explored in Riveting Book.”

www.motherearthnews.com. Mother Earth News. 2 Dec., 2010. Web. 27 Nov., 2011.

Woody Guthrie Elementary School Cirriculum. “SCIENCE: Causes of the Dust Bowl.” www.woodyguthrie.org. Woody Guthrie. n.d. Web. 27 Nov., 2011,

Zimmerman, E.A. “Blown Away- How the Dust Bowl Happened.” www.ourbetternature.org. Our Better Nature. n.d. Web. 27 Nov., 2011.

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