Dust Bowl USA

This summer, the National Climatic Data Centre has recorded high temperatures scorching much of the United States. Add little rainfall to the intense heat and the result has been corn crop failure and worries about much worse.

In fact, according to the University of Nebraska Based US Drought Monitor, moderate to severe drought now covers nearly 64 percent of the lower 48 states, statistics released making it one of the most widespread droughts in the past century.

The USA has not witnessed a drought of this magnitude in over half a century, and this extended dry period is threatening corn and other crops – prompting fears of the country heading for another Dust Bowl scenario – seen previously in the form of a 1930’s series of severe droughts which filled prairie states with countless vistas of dusty, arid ground.

Then, as now, the USA was also in the middle of recessionary times, but unlike today, small family farms then dominated rural areas, and agricultural practices were less sophisticated, contributing to extreme environmental and economic consequences, though it must be said that those Dust-bowl experiences involved several years of severe drought.

This current drought has only developed over three months, and most farmers can deal with one year of such conditions, though over the last century, droughts from Texas to Minnesota have repeatedly occurred. The reasons are hard either to predict or explain, but whether a summer is wet or dry comes down to luck at times.

Every drought event is different from others, some only local to certain areas, whilst others can be intense, widespread and long lasting. This current drought is causing both farmers and consumers problems, as bone-dry topsoil and excessive heat have heavily impacted corn crops, leading to more expensive meat and dairy products.

The news given out by U.S. Agriculture Department, that 38% of US  corn crops are now in poor or very poor condition was very troubling. During the next three months, the situation is not looking healthy, because models produced by the US  Climate Prediction Centre project a continuation of the hot and dry conditions.

There is no doubt whatever that the regions affected badly need a period of intense rainfall such as that which has recently affected the UK, but as yet there simply is no sign of it appearing any time in the forseeable future.