The 1930’s Dust BowlVs.

Drought of 2012

Amanda Wixom, Emmalee Hurst, Colby Parks, Lindsey Swensen

What is a Drought?

A drought is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall.

Major Effects of Droughts

Hunger and Famine

Thirst

Disease

Wildfires

Social Conflict and War

Migration and Relocation

The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl

What:  A period of severe drought and dust storms that impacted many states across the U.S.

Where: Plains states through Texas and Oklahoma bore the brunt of the damage.

When:  1930s, particularly 1934 and 1936.

Impact: Major ecological and agricultural damage to American prairie lands.

Why: A combination of weather, environmental and educational factors.

3 Factors

Weather

Poor Farming Practices

Lack of Environmental Understanding

Facts about the Dust Bowl

80% of the country was affected.

Desertification as an issue during the Dust Bowl.

Some cities went several years in a row with less than 10 in. of precipitation becoming, by definition, a desert

Called the massive dust storms “Black Blizzards”

About 100 million acres of farmland were damaged

Drought in 2012

Drought in 2014

2 Factors

Extreme heat from Southwest to Great Lakes

Below average precipitation everywhere

Caused drought conditions to expand aggressively

Extreme heat still would have dried out the soil in many regions of the country even with normal rainfall

2012 Drought Facts

Covers more area than the Dust Bowl did in 1936

Is the 10th-largest severe drought since 1895

Has caused mudslides due to precipitation

Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville have less than 50% of their usual water level for December

Percentage of the mid-west in drought has quadrupled during June

Has cost the U.S. more than $35 billion

1930s

Large percentage of Americans were farmers

Sustained drought

Farmers stripped land of natural defenses (native grasses)

Unsustainable farming practices

2012

Smaller percentage of farmers

Sustained drought

Decades of replanting of native grasses, trees which act as a natural defense

New Farming practices

Greater understanding of environment

Works Cited

http://www.weather.com/news/news/drought-disaster-new-data-20120715

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/02/drought-stricken-california-welcome-rain-mudslides

http://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYOmjQO_UMw

http://io9.com/just-how-bad-is-californias-drought-heres-a-scary-10-1618712607