1. Mia Cunicelli and Ali Gagnon
The Dust Bowl
Mia Cunicelli and Ali Gagnon

2. Dust Bowl Location The Great Plains Southern Plains American Midwest
Colorado
New Mexico
Texas
Oklohoma
Kansas

3. Theories for Dust Bowl Cropping submarginal land
Cropping land meant for grazing
Severe drought
Wind erosion
Poor weather situations

4. The New Deal Plan President Franklin Roosevelt
Many reforms addressing effects of Great Depression
Stream of bills passed
To relieve poverty
To reduce unemployment
To speed economic recovery

5. The New Deal Plan Series of economic measures
Created in hopes of reinvigorating the economy
15 major laws enacted by FDR
Four day bank holiday
Adjustments in farming

6. Federal Initiatives National Resources Board Land Utilization Program
Resettlement Administration
Soil Conservation Service
Farm Security Administration
National Recovery Administration
National Industrial Recovery Act

7. Federal Initiatives

8. New Study of Dust Bowl
Evaluation of all 280 counties in Dust Bowl region
Causes of wind erosion
Analyzing data from agricultural censures
Soil surveys
Weather stations using geographic information systems (GIS) choropleth and overlay mapping
All this allows for detailed analysis

9. Wind Erosion
Must understand in order to understand why dust storms happen
Erosion when strong winds blow across dry soil
Saltation occurs and sets everything else in motion
Cycle of medium size soil particles breaking off smaller and larger creating more dust, storm

10. Dust Storms Most common in Spring Infrequent in Fall
Winds at their strongest
Southern landscape thawed and free of snow
Infrequent in Fall
Rare in Summer and Winter
Winter: Ground is frozen
Winds are mild
Summer: Plant growth protects soil

11. Soil Data Sandy soil—more likely to erode
Many Great Plains counties have sandy soil
More plowed land by farmers, more sandy soil exposed
More sandy soil in March (peak dust season)

12. Drought Explains location of dust storms
More probable than misuse of land for causing dust storms
Drought and dust storms moved in tandem from

13. Water Necessary for life Drought in Midwest
Lack of water led to dry, dusty soil
Crops can not grow

14. Dorothea Lange Famous depression era photographer
Most famous photo of her career 
Migrant Mother

15. “Lost” Civilizations Environmental causes Water necessary for life
Drought, no water, evacuation or no life
Extreme temperatures
Drastic temperature changes

16. Machu Picchu Located in Peru Ancient Inca citadel Mysteriously vacated
Unknown purpose
Possible environmental effect cause evacutation

17. Machu Picchu

18. Mesa Verde Located in American Southwest
Entire village carved into the side of a cliff
Pueblo people, often called “Anasazi”
No writing system
Past determined by oral stories passed down
Archaeological remains left behind
Environmental effect could have led to disappearing
Drought
Extreme temperatures

19. Mesa Verde

20. Sources
“Causes of the Dust Bowl” article