Download Wind erosion is a serious problem in many parts of the world

Wind erosion is a serious problem in many parts of the world. It is worse in
arid, or dry, and semiarid regions. Areas most susceptible to wind
erosion on agricultural land include much of North Africa and the
Near East; parts of southern central, and eastern Asia; the Siberian
Plains; Australia; northwest China; southern South America; and
North America.
Wind erosion is a major problem on about 75 million acres of land in the
United States. Wind erosion physically removes from the field the most fertile
portion of the soil. Some soil from damaged land
becomes atmospheric dust. Dust decreases visibility
and pollutes the air and water, causes automobile
accidents, ruins machinery, and endangers animal
and human health.
During the 1930s, a prolonged dry spell culminated in dust storms and soil
destruction of disastrous proportions. The "black blizzards" of the
resulting Dust Bowl inflicted great hardships on the people and
the land.
The Dust Bowl has been called our nations worst ecological
disaster. It was an area in the southern Great Plains during the
1930's, where prolonged drought and severe dust storms inflicted
great hardships on the people and damage to the soil. As if the
drought and storms were not bad enough, the 1930's was also the time of the
Great Depression. Because of the dust storms, which spread dust across the
country, the 1930's are often known as the Dirty Thirties.