Lourdes Beltran,
Heather Luna,
Georgina Salas,
Maria Martinez,
& Crystal Martinez
EDCI 6341.62
Dr. Juan Chavez
March 25, 2012
ESSEA Cycle A
Team Assignment
Generate a list of questions related to the scenario. (Each member will contribute 2 questions, then
respond to each others question.)
1. How far will the dust travel?
The dust can travel for hundreds of miles and reach 20,000 feet high into the atmosphere.
The dust can rise over 10,000ft and travel for hundreds of miles.
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/707-dust-storm-on-the-loose
There is evidence that the dust traveled all the way to Europe and Asia and much settled in the
Atlantic Ocean.
The dust will travel for many miles and can destroy many living organisms in its path.Th article
did say that it covered many states.
2. How can we avoid dust bowls?
Through the use of proper crop irrigation systems. Crop rotation can also help because it leaves
nutrients on the topsoil to keep it compact and last longer.
One approach to the prevention of another Dust Bowl, is to keep grasses planted in poor
quality soil. http://www.texastribune.org/texas-environmental-news/environmental-problemsand-policies/federal-program-hopes-to-prevent-another-dust-bowl/
We can avoid dust storms by knowing factors such as crop rotation and irrigation. Human
cannot control the wind and droughts, but humans can control lose ground soil and how to
prevent it. We need to educate ourselves (especially those in this field) about soil tillage, which
was a major contributor to the dust bowl, for it degraded soil and left bare soil exposed.
Through much research on irrigation we have now learned what can be done to prevent such a
catastrophic event from happening. The topsoil is what needs to be taken care of because
without that then the dirt then gets too light and goes with the wind.
3. What steps can we take to prepare for a dust storm (if any)?
There are some steps we could take to prepare for a Dust Bowl. Some steps are 1) to carry a
mask to protect what you breathe in. 2) Have airtight goggles to protect your eyes. 3) Wear or
carry clothing that will protect your entire body. 4) Store gallons of water.
Seek shelter (immediately); Cover your eyes, nose, and mouth; Stay low and covered up.
http://www.justincasearizona.com/be-informed/natural-disasters/dust-storms.asp
The most important thing to do is to seek immediate shelter and have an emergency kit ready
for any event.
Avoid entering a dust storm by pulling your vehicle to the side, turn off all lights from your
vehicle, and take shelter.
4. Can a dust storm be tracked for its direction and severity?
Dust Bowls can be spotted by the use of satellites. The severity of a Dust Bowl can be tracked
by the lack of rainfall that has not fallen.
Atmospheric Physicists designed an early warning systems that utilizes weather, satellite, and
air quality information, to create a computer model that identifies when, where, and how much
dust to expect during a dust storm. http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0504dust_storms_early_warning.htm
WIth new advancements in technology, these types of storms can be spotted with the help of
the satellites and other meteorology equipment. There are also several websites that will help
view or research on the weather such as www.weather.com.
By a Doppler radar, a more accurate weather can be predicted by using several
instruments. These instruments can make it possible to determine the weather in
advance. They look at air masses that form in various parts of the country and are tracked to
determine their velocity, moisture level, and barometric pressure.
5. Who was to blame for the Dust Bowl occurrence?
Initial drought conditions, in conjunction with poor land usage lead to the Dust Bowl of 1935.
http://www.enotes.com/topic/Dust_Bowl
Many blame human error, yet many say it was a combination of nature and human error while
others even blame the institution and decisions wrongly made.
Many factors played a role into this event but yes if we were to have had the technology and
knowledge that we have now this event would not have happened. The humans played a huge
role in advancing this phenomenon from occurring and should be the ones to help prevent it.
I believe that nature and human are to blame for dust bowls. By the end of the 19th century,
farmers, aided by the advent of large tractors and reapers (harvesting machines), were
cultivating the Great Plains, uprooting the native buffalo grass, which holds moisture in the soil,
keeping it from blowing away.
6. Why was April 14, 1935 called Black Sunday?
Blackness swept across the High Plains, turning a warm, sunny day into blackness darker than
night. The name Black Sunday stems from the darkness surrounding that day.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=blacksunday
The dust traveled from the plains to New England and Washington D.C. Settlers were not only
dealing with a massive cloud of wind and soil that turned the day into complete darkness, but
they were also dealing with the Great Depression. This name branched out due to
characteristics of this event as well as a symbol of what they were going through due to the
depression.
It was called Black Sunday because a huge black cloud of dust rolled through the land and
covered the light. It was a tragic decade that the Americans had to deal with because they were
also dealing with the war in Europe and conditions in their own homeland.
The 1930’s was considered a time of tremendous hardship on the Great Plains. Settlers not
only dealt with the Great Depression, but also with years of drought that plunged an alreadysuffering society into an onslaught of relentless dust storm for days and months on end.
7. In addition to the drought and poor land usage, were there additional
ecological factors, such as land slope that contributed to the Dust Bowl of
1935?
No, there were no other additional ecological factors that contributed to the Dust Bowl. The
only cause of it was the drought, massive wind erosion daily, extensive farming without crop
rotation, and deep plowing of the fields.
There was persistent wind erosion besides the drought and poor land usage and although it
might not be seen as an ecological factor, many blame institutional factors that contributed to
this event taking place, although they have not been sufficiently considered but should be.
The factors that continued to play a role in this event were the wind and over-worked land. The
farmers did not know that they were over working the land and helping with the situation at
hand.
Farmers failed to rest and replenish the land. Areas had been weakened by over planting of
wheat were used for cattle grazing, further destroying the native grasses. Ocean temperatures
in the 1930’s were unstable. Changes in the ocean's surface temperatures created shifts in
weather patterns. These shifts changed the flow of the jet stream. The weakened jet stream
did not bring into the plains, the moisture laden air from the Gulf of Mexico. Low level winds
caused a reduction or rainfall throughout the Midwest.
8. How many death resulted from the 1935 Dust Bowl?
There really isn’t an accurate count of total deaths. The death estimates have been said to be
about 7,000 from dust pneumonia or other dust related deaths.
Many settlers died because of drought, dust, heat and starvation. Some died during the event,
others died while migrating, and others time after because of dust pneumonia and/or
malnutrition. A set number of those who died from the 1935 Dust Bowl is unknown, especially
because of all the contributing factors mentioned.
It is uncertain of the actual death count because many issues played a role from this event. The
deaths came from factors such as dust pneumonia, death due to the storm, and/or migration
away from the area exposed.
The death toll cannot be determined with accuracy. One cause of death was dust pneumonia
which clogs the people’s lungs from the dust and dirt that filled the air during this time.
9. Is there now an emergency plan developed by the country in case if there
is another threat of a dust bowl? There are now state of emergency plans in
place when there are hurricanes....Are there for this type of catastrophe?
There isn’t a state of emergency plan in place. Some states just have an emergency
preparedness plan. It lets them know how to protect themselves and their families.
http://www.justincasearizona.com/be-informed/natural-disasters/dust-storms.asp
There is a state of emergency plan in place for dust storms. One such plan, can be viewed at
http://preparednesspantry.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-survive-dust-storm.html.
There is no set emergency plan. All there is, is known precaution one takes in case of an
emergency. Knowing that a dust storm can be detected, people can take caution by preparing:
staying indoors, having plenty of food and water to survive for a while, placing wet towels
under the doors and around windows and ventilators to keep the dust out, have flashlights
available, and have your vehicle with a full tank in case of an evacuation.
When dust storms hits, there are several things you can do to protect your family:
1. If you are outside:
-seek shelter immediately (if possible).
-cover your eyes, nose, and mouth.
-stay low and cover up.
2. If you are in a moving vehicle:
-Pull off the roadway (if possible) or reduce speed.
-Turn off all car lights.
-Set the emergency brake (make sure the brake light is off).
10. If there is not an emergency plan what are your thoughts as to what we
should do to prevent such catastrophe from happening?
I believe if we take care of our farming and farm correctly we should not have another
catastrophe. If the land is taken care we should be fine. We need to learn about soil tillage, crop
rotation, and irrigation to keep such catastrophes from happening.
From what I have learned this far, the best way to prevent a massive dust storm, is to ensure
that all soil, regardless of its quality, be secured by the roots of some sort of foliage to prevent
erosion.
My thoughts as to what we should we do to prevent such catastrophe is to have an emergency
plan for this type of event. We are known to take precaution as to how to prepare for a
hurricane or tornado, even for an earthquake, yet you do not hear much on steps to take for a
dust storm. People are to be educated as to what this is, when it took place, why it took place,
and what can be done to prevent it. Such things to be done are what have been stated earlier:
knowing the correct and safe way to irrigate and crop, making sure no loose soils is left to be
picked up by the wind. There are numerous other ways, such as not wasting water for incase of
a drought and having the institutional factors being heard and taking place.
Educate people of natural disaster and how they are caused. Let people be aware of how
everything has an effect on the environment.
Develop a team problem statement exploring the possibility of a new Dust Bowl.
The purpose of this ESS analysis is to identify the ecological and human factors that contributed to the
1935 Dust Bowl. Our team will research the events prior to this catastrophic event and design a
prevention plan that can be utilized to avoid a recurrence.
Develop key questions to investigate problem statement. (Each team member will develop one
questions.)
Have today’s farmers learned from the mistakes of the farmers in 1935 and learned the proper way of
farming on new land?
Since the catastrophic Dust Bowl of 1935, what role, if any, has technology played in the early
detection, warning, and prevention of possible recurrence?
How much of the Great Depression and institutional factors unperformed affected the outcome
and number of deaths due to the Dust Bowl? Would there have been any different outcome if
none of theses unfortunate events had taken place at the same time?
We know that America was suffering from a depression and that America also was going through World
War II. If the United States would have also been worried about their own people could this catastrophe
have been prevented?
The Dust bowl drought was a natural disaster that severely affected much of the United States during
the 1930’s. How would the study of paleoclimatic help us prevent a future dust bowl?