The Dirty Thirties
Tommy McComas
Mrs. Hasley
English 11B
21 February 2013
Preventing the “Dirty Thirties’” A massive dust storm, which was two miles high and traveled more than two-thousand miles, hit the East Coast while destroying everything in its path. The cloud of dust grew ferocious and strong as time went on continuing to pick up tons of Earth’s surface. It also happened during the United States’ biggest economic depression it has ever seen. The storm lasted for four strong years before settling down to an end starting in the Great Plains: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Dust Bowl could have been prevented by the right government policies and farming techniques. According to N.A.S.A, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the changes in sea surface temperatures had something to do with the drought of the ‘30s. N.A.S.A scientists held a study that found cooler Tropical Pacific Ocean and warmer Tropical Atlantic Ocean Temperatures. These changes in data created huge shifts in large weather patterns that directly affected the Great Plains. The Jet Stream, that runs east to west across U.S, was weakened and went further south into Mexico missing the Great Plains. The lower wind levels of the jet stream stopped blowing rainfall in from the Gulf of Mexico and caused a large drought across the Plains. The Government should put in a law stating that sea temperatures need to be recorded and related to the data of 1930. Although Jon Beilue states that there are a lot of factors could have been avoided in causing the Dust Bowl. Farming techniques of those in the early ‘30s were not as advanced of those now. The average farmer in the plains would have owned a Mold Board Plow. This plow went anywhere from 4-7 inches in the ground. The plows of those days left 85% of residue on the top of the ground. This was a factor of the ground being torn up too deep and too often. The farmers also did not understand the reasoning of crop rotation. Instead of
Mrs. Hasley
English 11B
21 February 2013
Preventing the “Dirty Thirties’” A massive dust storm, which was two miles high and traveled more than two-thousand miles, hit the East Coast while destroying everything in its path. The cloud of dust grew ferocious and strong as time went on continuing to pick up tons of Earth’s surface. It also happened during the United States’ biggest economic depression it has ever seen. The storm lasted for four strong years before settling down to an end starting in the Great Plains: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Dust Bowl could have been prevented by the right government policies and farming techniques. According to N.A.S.A, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the changes in sea surface temperatures had something to do with the drought of the ‘30s. N.A.S.A scientists held a study that found cooler Tropical Pacific Ocean and warmer Tropical Atlantic Ocean Temperatures. These changes in data created huge shifts in large weather patterns that directly affected the Great Plains. The Jet Stream, that runs east to west across U.S, was weakened and went further south into Mexico missing the Great Plains. The lower wind levels of the jet stream stopped blowing rainfall in from the Gulf of Mexico and caused a large drought across the Plains. The Government should put in a law stating that sea temperatures need to be recorded and related to the data of 1930. Although Jon Beilue states that there are a lot of factors could have been avoided in causing the Dust Bowl. Farming techniques of those in the early ‘30s were not as advanced of those now. The average farmer in the plains would have owned a Mold Board Plow. This plow went anywhere from 4-7 inches in the ground. The plows of those days left 85% of residue on the top of the ground. This was a factor of the ground being torn up too deep and too often. The farmers also did not understand the reasoning of crop rotation. Instead of