Question

Which geographic area is most closely associated with the Dust Bowl of the 1930s?

1) Great Lakes basin
2) Mississippi River valley
3) Appalachian Mountains
4) Great Plains

Answer 1

The Great Plains is the geographic area most closely associated with the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, which became an ecological disaster due to severe drought and dust storms that removed the topsoil from vast tracts of farmland.

Step-by-step explanation:

The geographic area most closely associated with the Dust Bowl of the 1930s is the Great Plains. This region, which experienced a severe combination of droughts and dust storms, profoundly affected American agriculture during this period. Specifically, the Southern Great Plains which includes states like Oklahoma, suffered extensive damage as windstorms removed the topsoil of an estimated 100 million acres of farmland. Drought conditions caused this topsoil to turn into dust, and the subsequent dust storms were so intense that the soil was blown long distances, in some cases all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

The creation of the Dust Bowl was furthered by over-farming, dry farming practices that depleted the topsoil, overgrazing of cattle, and a high demand for wheat during World War I which led to the removal of native prairie grasses. The Dust Bowl stands as an example of environmental catastrophe meeting economic hardship during the Great Depression, exacerbating the difficulties farmers and their families faced in the Plains states.