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How come there haven't been any dust bowls since? Did scientists save the day by coming up with new farming techniques. was anyone worried before it abiut farming practices?
How would what happened in the dust bowl be relate to global warming? will scientist be able to fix it in 5-6 years like they did in the dust bowl?

2006-12-16 17:44:27 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment

4 answers

The dust bowl years didn't start the drought, the drought started the dust bowl years. You simply can't make a case for global warming everywhere you look. The dust bowls themselves were finally contained by covering them with used automobile, truck, and tractor tires. The land thus reclaimed was found to be more fertile than its surroundings, although this was an unintended consequence of trying to stop the erosion. Some of the land was never again put to the plow due to the fear of the next drought generating the same dust bowl conditions. Farmers, merchants, and County extension agents fought the dust bowls while scientists populated bread lines.

2006-12-16 19:06:33 · answer #1 · answered by Helmut 7 · 1 1

Poor agricultural practices and years of sustained drought caused the Dust Bowl. Plains grasslands had been deeply plowed and planted to wheat. During the years when there was adequate rainfall, the land produced bountiful crops. But as the droughts of the early 1930s deepened, the farmers kept plowing and planting and nothing would grow. The ground cover that held the soil in place was gone. The Plains winds whipped across the fields raising billowing clouds of dust to the skys. The skys could darken for days, and even the most well sealed homes could have a thick layer of dust on furniture. In some places the dust would drift like snow, covering farmsteads.
The Dust Bowl taught farmers new farming methods and techniques. The 1930's fostered a whole new era of soil conservation. Perhaps the most valuable lesson learned form the Dust Bowl - take care of the land. The Dust Bowl's future is controlled almost exclusively by the weather. The prolonged drought combined with the meteorological phenomena of the 1930's was rare and never before tortured the Great Plains as it did. Droughts and winds still cause many problems, but most are averted and minimized with proper soil conservation. When times turn dry again, will the wind blow and history repeat itself? Only time will tell.

2006-12-16 18:00:25 · answer #2 · answered by eric l 6 · 2 0

You're basically correct on the dust bowl part of your question. It has to do with new farming techniques. Crop rotation, leaving the roots/plant parts in the ground instead of tilling it under, and irrigation.

As far as global warming, I don't think the solution will so quick. As it is, there are only certain portions of the warming that we understand, and for many of them, it's been hundreds of years in the making. I just don't forsee a quick fix for this one.

2006-12-16 18:02:45 · answer #3 · answered by narrfool 3 · 1 0

you're overestimating the fidelity of climate & climate. The dirt Bowl followed an exceptionally moist spell of countless a lengthy time period in the excellent Plains, at the same time as farmers moved accessible questioning that element of moisture became favourite. The drought became worsened because low(?) costs made the wheat farmers plant as a lot as they could, even in fairly marginal land. without a lot to carry down the soil, it blew into the air. nutrition wrestle properly factors out that FDR paid human beings to plant tree belts and subsequently cut back off erosion. And, our farming conservation practices are a lot more desirable ideal now. yet in case you visit western Kansas etc, you nonetheless gained't see as a lot crop farming accessible as you'll have 80 years in the past, because all of us understand now that it really is a nasty locale for that.

2016-10-18 09:44:34 · answer #4 · answered by durrett 4 · 0 0

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