The crisis of global climate change isn’t the first man-made climate disaster we’ve faced in recent history. In the twentieth century, America dealt with and solved a regional crisis of our own making. It almost happened again soon after.
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1/11
We prevented the second disaster the same way we had solved it the first time.
It was solved by federal intervention.
In the early 1930s, the American Southwest was engulfed by a serious drought, which was exacerbated by then-current farming and grazing techniques.
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It was solved by federal intervention.
In the early 1930s, the American Southwest was engulfed by a serious drought, which was exacerbated by then-current farming and grazing techniques.
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This area used to be the breadbasket of the nation. Taking advantage of the rise in grain prices from the First World War, farmers in the southwest overplanted, removing most of the indigenous grasses and other flora with long roots that used to hold the soil in place.
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3/11
When the drought hit, the soil simply dried up and blew away.
Farming basically stopped in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and in much of Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado.
The effects were devastating, not just for southwestern farmers, but for the nation.
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Farming basically stopped in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and in much of Kansas, New Mexico, and Colorado.
The effects were devastating, not just for southwestern farmers, but for the nation.
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Thick and vast clouds of dust and dirt blew as far as the East Coast, coating homes and clothing even in New York City. The collapse of American farming contributed to the severity of the Great Depression.
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5/11
Then, as now, many people simply didn’t want to believe humans could have such a monumental impact on the climate. Then, as now, there was resistance to doing anything about it.
The Dust Bowl was finally brought under control through federal land management ...
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The Dust Bowl was finally brought under control through federal land management ...
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... and farm rehabilitation, much of it accomplished by the New Deal’s Soil Conservation Service. Planting trees and grasses, farming in terraces, letting some of the fields lie fallow, and having the government buy over eleven million acres to take it out of production.
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7/11
This finally reduced the land being destroyed and eventually (by about 1941) made the farms viable again.
The increase in grain prices in WW2 encouraged farmers to begin to repeat the same mistakes of overplanting and bad management.
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The increase in grain prices in WW2 encouraged farmers to begin to repeat the same mistakes of overplanting and bad management.
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In the 1950s, another drought threatened to again destroy the southwestern farms. Federal intervention this time came in agriculture subsidies that paid farmers to take some farmlands out of production.
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9/11
This disaster was caused by simple greed and mismanagement, piled on top of a drought that didn’t need to have been a major problem if it had been handled correctly. It was also a minor regional disaster compared to the global dangers we currently face.
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10/11
The Dust Bowl was solved by a single nation; the challenges of climate change will take the world. But we have experience in dealing with widespread human-caused environmental disasters. We should learn from that experience.
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11/11
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