Instructor: Prof. Burdett Topic: The Dust Bowl and The Great Depression. The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to The United States and Canadian Prairie Land from 1930 to 1936. This phenomenon was caused by severe drought followed by extensive farming without crop rotation and fallow fields. Deep plowing of the virgin topsoil of the Great Plains displaced the natural deep-rooted grasses that normally kept the soil in place and trapped moisture even during the periods of drought and high winds (Worster, Pg80-82). Millions of acres of farmland became useless and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes and migrated to California and to other states.
Summary: The Dust Bowl Migration The Dust Bowl was an ecological disaster in the Great Plains during the 1930’s. The Great Plains had suffered severe drought for several years which then led to the depletion of the soil used by farmers to harvest their major crops- wheat and cotton. This interesting phenomenon led to the massive migration of almost 3 million farmers and the intervention from the government. This mass migration became known in History as the Dust Bowl Migration. Since it occurred during the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl migration became significant due to the riskiness in relocation because of such high unemployment rates.
The dust bowl lies principally west of the 100th meridian, it ranges from 2,500 feet in the east to 6,000 feet at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The Dust Bowl was a period of terrible dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to America and Canada. It was caused by severe drought, (an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply) and the long time of extensive farming without right techniques to prevent erosion. During the drought, the soil turned to dust, which blew in dark clouds. Sometimes the dust blackened the sky.
From the 9th to the 13th century, known as the Medieval Warm Period, brought about prosperous grain agriculture for the people of the world (NOAA, 2009). Grains and cereals were a part of their main staple. But when cooling trends started to appear in the beginning of the Little Ice Age, these grain crops began to fail. As a result of this, people were now faced with serious issues of famine. During the Little Ice Age 1.5 million people died in Europe from the cold or by famine (Cambou, 2005).
In chapter one it starts with a big picture the “dust bowl” of the large drought that has happened. Then it says “the last rains” this can mean that the sky is giving them the last bit of rain the clouds have. Also, the water is just bouncing off of the corn that is dying. This also causes the men to lost a bit of hope in farming. The dust bowl is a piece of land with sharecroppers.
This was followed by a cold spell in August and September. Because of this weather, corn and oats could not ripen, and wheat and rye completely failed, creating a smaller harvest than usual (29-32). Within months, the whole country was hungry. Prices had risen on what food was available. The King tried implementing several policies to increase the food supply, such as price controls on livestock and restrictions on the production of ales and other products made from the limited supply of grain.
Agriculture in Russia was far behind other great powers and peasants were suffering greatly through the repeated famines in 1902 and 1905. Sergei Witte had done nothing to improve agriculture only focusing on the economy of Russia. This led to subsistence agriculture. Grain was being exported and there wasn’t enough for the peasants. This also meant that the land was not used to it full potential, all these factors lead to the famines and causing peasants to up rise using violence against government officials.
Many were left unemployed and had to take to the road to find work. A severe drought also ravaged America, destroying crops causing vast, treeless plains. This came to be known as the Dust Bowl. The unrelenting drought and the plummeting prices of crops, ruined many farming families. The Great Depression is evident throughout the novel through the hardships that the people of Maycomb experience.
The run-off from higher elevation combined with melt water from lower elevation was so forceful it broke levees and caused one of the most damaging floods the region has ever seen. The West Walker River caused extensive damage in Topaz, Coleville, California, Wellington and Nevada. It’s estimated that twelve miles of US Highway 395 have been destroyed and are going to be closed for around seven months! In Yerington and in the Mason Valley nearly 500 homes have been damaged and public and private property damaged substantially. Floodwaters deposited debris on Farmland and Damaged irrigation gates, ditches and canals.
Haiti Earthquake 2010 The earthquake in Haiti occurred on the 12th of January 2010 16:53 local time around 25km from Haiti’s capitol Port au Prince the earthquake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale making it one of the most devastating earthquakes this . Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere with around 80% of the population living in extreme poverty. Access to healthcare in Haiti is almost non-existent more than 60% of the population has access to basic healthcare because of this disease is rampant. Most building in Haiti are structurally unsound meaning when the earthquake hit these houses crumbled to rubble leaving many people trapped. In February 2010 Prime Minister Jean estimated that 250,000 residencies and 30,000commercial buildings were severely damaged and needed to be demolished.