The Dust Bowl Analysis

Natural Disasters are devastating to humans. They are supposed to be forces of nature but sometimes they can be caused by man. This was the case of the dust bowl. This disaster was a decade long. It was the worst man made ecological disaster in history. The problem this film presented was man’s ability to cause disaster and rather than being part of the solution, they are part of the problem. This is a problem. Nature has evolved over millions of years to become this perfect ecosystem and it takes man only a few years to destroy millions of years of work. When it came to the Great Plains this was the case. It took millions of years for nature to figure out how to grow grass in such a harsh climate. Then man came in and destroyed all that work.

In the ranching regions, overgrazing also destroyed large areas of grassland. Gradually, the land was laid bare, and significant environmental damage began to occur. Among the natural elements, the strong winds of the region were particularly devastating. With the drought in 1930, the over farmed and overgrazed land began to blow away. Winds plowed across the plains, creating clouds of dust. The sky could darken for days. The Great Plains became a dust bowl. However, in the early 30’s hope was given to people by lies. People assumed things would get better but they didn’t. Banks started to collapse, dust storms starter to become more prevalent. In 19333, there were 38 dust storms. It was said that when a dust storm would roll through, it could take paint off cars and homes. It could bury a house like a snow storm. Everyone was going under in 1934. Property values declined 90%. The most horrifying storm of them all happened in 1935, and was forever remembered as Black Sunday. The dust storm was like a mountain mowing through. It stretched 200mi wide and blew at 65mph and it kept getting bigger and stronger. It was said that people couldn’t see their hand in front of their face it was so dark. When it was over you couldn’t even get in your house because it was buried. Instead of a key, you needed a

Man thought it could tame nature. People wanted more and were caught with their hand in the cookie jar. The film showed how we need to be aware of what we are doing to our planet because we are very capable of creating a “natural disaster” that can affect us greatly. This is not a mistake we should repeat. The film present, well, how even though times seem great and the future looks bright, things can take a turn for the worst very quickly. It shows how our own actions can lead to devastating natural