Chapter 19

Human Actions and the Land

19.1 Loss of Soils.

Lesson Objectives

• Explain how human actions accelerate soil erosion.


• Describe ways that we can prevent soil erosion.

Introduction

Have you ever seen muddy rain or snow falling from the sky? Can you imagine what it might
be like if the water that came down as rain and snow was muddy and brown? In May 1934,
a huge wind storm picked up and blew away massive amounts oftopsoilfrom the Central
United States (Figure19.1). The wind carried the soil eastward to Chicago. Some of the
soil then fell down to the ground like a snowstorm made of mud. The rest of it continued
blowing eastward, and reached all the way to New York and Washington, D.C. That winter,
states like New York and Vermont actually had red snow because of all the dusty soil in the
air.

A little less than one year later, in April 1935, another such storm happened (Figure19.2).
It was called a Black Blizzard. It made the day turn dark as night; people could not see
right in front of them because of all the soil blown up by the wind storm. The storm caused
tremendous damage and led to many people leaving the central United States to find other
places to live. Many people became sick from breathing the soil in the air.

These storms are sometimes called the Dust Bowl storms. They continued on and off until
about 1940. They are extreme examples of soil erosion, which is the process of moving soil
from one place to another. Soil erosion is a serious problem because it takes away a valuable