The Drought Conditions Of The Great Plains Region

The lack of rainfall led to a drought in 1923 til 1940. Farmers needed at least 20 inches of annual rainfall in order to grow crops in dry regions like the Southern Great Plains (Document E). “ John Wesley Powell, the great Western explorer, determined that 20 inches of

The climate of the interior plains is continental, which basically means that the climate is relatively dry with extremely hot summers and cold winters. The weather is very diverse and may change quickly without warning. In the North of the physiographic region, the winters are long and the summers are short and cool whereas in the South, the the winters are harsh with little precipitation and long summers. Although the humid weather and the flat lands create an ideal place to grow crops like wheat and corn, the growing season itself is quite short, even in the southern region due to the lack of precipitation needed for diversified crops to flourish. The flat prairies east to the Rockies is a meeting ground for Arctic, Pacific and

Drought condition exists throughout most of Arizona. Variable amounts of rainfall throughout last year’s where was significantly below the normal with surface water flows, reservoir levels, and well water pumping levels are at some of their lowest ever recorded all of that act as indication of drought occurrence. Drought is a normal recurring feature of climate, not a rare or random event. Climate influence water quality throughout temperature, precipitation, and wind by affecting the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of water. For instance, temperature fluctuation results in more stress on aquatic organism within water body, in the same way wind fluctuation has a direct effect on evaporation rate. Municipal water providers in Flagstaff, Williams, Mayer, Pine, Strawberry, and in areas near Sierra Vista, Sonoita, and Picacho have suffered from some potable

The Dust Bowl occurred in the 1930s and lasted roughly eight years. The main area of impact was the Southern Plains. The Northern Plains were not affected as much. However the north did receive some dust and droughts. The Dust Bowl did not help the Depression either. It actually lengthened it. The effects of the Depression were felt worldwide.

In the article, “Decade of drought”by Anne Capeci and “Drought reports” they both discuss the effects of droughts and use photo graphs to show evidence that droughts are everywhere to begin “decade of droughts” explains how people have no water.for example in Africa they had no fresh water. Without water livestocks will die and wild animals will die from hunger and dehydration additionally the article continues to explain about drought through pictures for example they use pictures to show about what was affected by the drought Capeci reports destructive wildfire are common during droughts in southwest some say that Johnson's article is better but most people would agree that her information to tell about the drought.

No one could have foresaw a drought occurring and even the most experienced farmers might have thought if a drought were to hit it would not last long. Worster states, “Over the nation as a whole, the 1930s drought was in the words of a Weather Bureau scientist, “the worst in the climatological history

The drought was brought on by changing climate in the mid-west; the drought during the Dust

The Dust Bowl drought was the worst in U.S. history that was around 1930. It was in the mid west where it covered sixty percent of the country. Millions of people had to move to other parts because it lasted four years. It was "at its peak in 1934" according to "National Climate Data Center". We already have a lot of drought in California and west although one might say it is all of the U.S. With little rain and high tempatures in the summers drys out the vegatation which become a hazard for fires. Global warming might have some to do with the problem of drought. High populations need more water, with more water being used, depletes resources of water supplies which causes drought also. People need to become more aware of the use of the use of water, a lot of people take it for granite that there is plenty out there for all of us to share. In fact, if we don't start to conserve, we might not have water like we do in the future.

The Dust Bowl, as the majority of the people know it, was a period of time in the great plains, during the 1930’s, where some of the most severe sand storms known took place. The dust bowl lasted for about a decade and it affected New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, and Colorado. The Dust bowl lasted from 1931 to 1939. When the Drought hit the great plains, around one third of the farmers left. The dust storms caused many problems for many people, but especially the farmers that depended on the success of their crops to support their family.

The “Dust Bowl” was the name given to the Great Plains region that was greatly affected by drought in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. The major contribution that led to the Dust Bowl was overproduction of crops however there were some natural causes. “Much of the soil there had been damaged by wind and rain. The soil in this area was subjected to

The droughts occurred in 1930-1931,1934,1936,1939-1940 but it felt like one long drought. The last drought didn’t end until late fall of 1939. The first drought was in 1930-1931 it was the worst drought in the 20th century Arkansas. Between 30 and 50 percent of Arkansas crps failed during the drought. As a result the farmers could not produce enough food to eat.

This drove 60 percent of the population to the region. The people leaving tended to move to areas and then move to the city in the Far West where they felt the could make more money. In response to the Dust Bowl, the federal government issued the Soil Conservation Service in 1935. This service promoted farm rehabilitation by the government instructing farmers to plant trees and grass to anchor the soil, to plow and terrace in contour patterns to hold rainwater, and to allow portions of farmland to lie fallow, which is uncultivated land, each year so the soil could regenerate.

With defining the Texas climate I began with the northernmost area of land being the panhandle. Where within this region, the panhandle exhibits a Continental Steepe climate where there are “large variations in the magnitude of ranges in [both] daily temperature extremes and irregularly spaced rainfall”. Due to physical influences of North Texas such as its proximity to mountain barriers which subsequently blocks “moist air from oceans from reaching the steppe” the area results in a region that experiences low humidity in its air quality in the high plain area of the state. The

---. “Summer and Winter Drought in a Cold Desert Ecosystem (Colorado Plateau).” Utah State University, vol. 61, no. 1, 2005,

Did you know that the Dust Bowl from the 1930s affected 100,000,000 acres or 400,000 kilometers^2 of the Great Plains in the United States of America? This time “was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie land”. During this time, farmers of the Great Plains were experiencing many hardships, which were brought on by a combination of poor farming practices, drought, and erosion prevention. “Millions of acres of farm land became useless, and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes” (Buonanduci 1).