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The Dust Bowl: Dirty Thirties, a Terrible Storm

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The Dust Bowl: Dirty Thirties, a Terrible Storm
Abigail Valdivia J. Ochoa Dust Bowl

2

The Dust Bowl is also known as the Dirty Thirties. The Dust Bowl was a terrible

storm, which occurred in the 1930’s, it affected the mid western people. The Dust Bowl

hit 150,000-square-mile area, in Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and some sections of

Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico. It rained very little, there were high winds which

later turned into a black blizzards. The Dust Bowl occurred since 1931-1939, it lasted

eight years.There are several effects that happened during or after the Dust Bowl there

was about 70,000 people died, 60% of the population in the regions were destroyed,and

almost all farmers either left their farms because they were in debt or migrated to other

states.

The Dust Bowl has estimated about over 70,000 people dead . People died in the

Dust Bowl because many droughts and lack of food. Droughts happened because of low

precipitation, a shortage of water. People died because of lack of water and food. When

people had water they had to cover it with a dish or something so the dust/dirt wouldn’t

get into the water,so they could be able to not have a disease called Dust Pneumonia.

Dust Pneumonia is a serious lung infection caused by inhaling too much dust. “ Dust

Bowl disaster was the result of complex interactions between humans and the

environment...The dust storms interacted with radiation to make the drought worse and

move it northward increasing the potential for further wind erosion. That said, even

without the human role, the drought would have occurred and the human impact was

limited.”(Web.)

Many farmers during the Dust Bowl would leave their lands because they didn’t

produce enough crops to make money so they couldn’t pay their debts. The farm life

started to get very hard during the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl began because the soil

started to become loose and dry. Farmers could start to plant crops and wheat. With

terrible soil crops would die and farmers could not produce enough food to live on, much

less sell.Farmers had trouble keeping their jobs because there was a drought during the

dust bowl. “Farmers were unable to pay their share to the landowners. Farmers were

forced to leave the land with huge debts they could not pay.” (Therefore,

farmers moved to California or became homeless because they were in debt.

This Concludes, the Dust Bowl or the Dirty Thirties, was a time in the 1930’s

which had many dust storms and problems. The Dust Bowl occurred since 1931-1939, it

lasted eight years.The Dust Bowl causing major ecological and agricultural damage to

American and other territories in the 1930s. It affected the mid-western

people ,Oklahoma, Texas panhandles and some sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New

Mexico. It was a period where farmers and crops were affected badly.There were many

effects that happened during the Dust Bowl , about 70,000 people died, 60% of the

population in the regions were destroyed,and almost all farmers either left their farms

because they were in debt or migrated to other states. The Dust Bowl was a region which

reduced to aridity by drought and dust storms.

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