Re: Dust Bowl a "Natural" Disaster?

John Tatarko (jt@weru.ksu.edu)
Fri, 24 May 1996 14:18:40 -0500 (CDT)

>
> There have been a couple of postings to Sanet about a possible
> repeat of the Dust Bowl days this year. In those postings, as well as
> on several news and other TV accounts, the Dust Bowl situation has
> been referred to as a natural disaster. It would seem that drought
> would be a natural condition, but disturbance of the soil surface
> through man's actions, including removal of vegetative cover, would
> seem to have at least as much influence on what happened then
> (and now). Comments/thoughts?
>

Julie,

I agree with most of this. Man has an influence, whether you consider
this "natural" or not. However, this year, most of the situations
where the soil is blowing is due to lack of rainfall, resulting in less
growth and cover than normal. It is not a result of man's "removal" of
vegetative cover.

I know of one case where vegetative cover was removed, not by man but
by mother nature. Earlier this spring, conditions on grasslands were
very dry as evidenced by the numerous wildfires from Texas to Kansas.
In Meade County, Kansas some CRP land caught fire. In the following
days, a "Dust Bowl" type storm removed several inches of soil.

John Tatarko | jt@weru.ksu.edu
USDA-ARS Wind Erosion Research Unit | WWW URL: http://www.weru.ksu.edu
Throckmorton Hall, KSU | phone: (913) 532-6720
Manhattan, KS 66506 | fax: (913) 532-6528