Wind Erosion

Archive Report

Formation of New Dust Bowl in Southwest

Formation of a new dust bowl in the southwestern section of the Great Plains, approaching in magnitude the area afflicted 20 years ago, has spurred efforts not only to meet the current emergency but also to check for all time the periodic destruction of the region's soil by wind erosion. Recollections of the severe dust storms of 1935–38 grew dim during the moist decade of the 1940s, when fertility was restored temporarily to most parts of the old dust bowl, and when high prices for wheat, corn and cotton encouraged overcultivation of the land. Since 1950, however, the region has had scarce rainfall, crops have repeatedly burned out, and the dry, loose soil has been exposed to the ...

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