To:
From:
COL Gary K. “Doc” Rogers, PE, PhD
Cadet Martin and Cadet Rogers
Course:
Subject:
CE 208X - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Text:
Past Time, Past Place, GIS for History, Edited by Anne Kelly Knowles, ESRI Press,
2002
T:\Civil Engineering\CE 208X\3 Non-Text Assignments\3 Dust Bowl\Causes of the
Dust Bowl.pdf
Goals:
Introduction to GIS technology, tools, software, and capabilities through study of
applicable case histories.
Case History: Causes of the Dust Bowl by Geoff Cunfer
T:\Civil Engineering\CE 208X\3 Non-Text Assignments\3 Dust Bowl\Causes of the
Dust Bowl (02 05 15).doc
Key Words: Submarginal Land, Great Plains, Great Depression, New Deal Government, dust storms,
Assigned:
Due:
HR:
HG:
Dust Bowl, historic versus actual reasons for the Dust Bowl, Choropleth mapping,
overlay mapping, threshold velocity, saltation, soil resistivity to blowing, times of high
erosion, STATSGO, archaeological data on early Native American occupation, TIN,
VEMAP, Great Plains Population and Environment Project.
02/05/15 Thursday
02/19/15 Thursday (Two Weeks)
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/dustbowl.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/kansascity_201307F03.html
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/migrantmother.htm
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml
http://www.edrgroup.com/about-us/press-releases/asce-water.html
http://www.wno.org/water-scarcity
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/drinking-water/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/200-year-drought-doomed-indus-valleycivilization/
http://www.livescience.com/6241-mystery-great-civilization-destructionrevealed.html
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/02/world/americas/feat-mayans-blue-hole-belizedrought/
Specify “Help Given”.
Assignment:

Give a brief overview of the abovenoted case history. Discuss what GIS technology
was able to add to the understanding of this disaster. (e.g. two to three paragraphs,
concise and thorough). Insert answer in different font/size/color here.
The dustbowl began in 1931 and lasted 8 years. Over the course of those 8
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years countless families moved and millions of tons of topsoil were lost on the Great
Plains. Due to this loss of topsoil, large storms developed in which dirt, particulate,
and soil reached thousands of feet into the sky and spread out into a front hundreds
of miles long. At one point, these dust storms would reach as far as Washington D.C.,
meaning they had traversed half the width of America. In 1932 there were 14 storms,
in 1938 that number jumped to 38. Countless Federal farm plans were enacted
(REA,CCC,etc) that were designed to alleviate the strain on the farmers. In one of
these plans, the Federal Government bought and slaughtered a million pigs to stabilize
prices and bought cattle at higher-than-market prices to try and bailout the suffering
farmers. Tree planting programs and new farming techniques were also put in place by
the Soil Conservancy Agency (newly created) which helped to stabilize the soil loss
due to the particularly arid environment in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and New Mexico
where the Dust Bowl was in full swing. The Dust Bowl was finally alleviated when the
rains returned in 1939.
GIS technology has enabled historians and engineers to better understand the
Dust Bowl through integrated maps that depict the correlation between rainfall and
arid conditions and the Dust Bowl. Furthermore, GIS technology has allowed the Dust
Bowl to be broken down into infinitely smaller parts through maps that show the Dust
Bowl on State, county, and municipality levels. These maps have given historians and
researchers the capability to break down the Dust Bowl on an entirely new level and
give insight into whether or not rainfall, man’s farming techniques, or the destruction
of prairie grasses was the key factor in the conditions that caused the Dust Bowl.
Did this change your previously held historic knowledge about the “dust bowl” area and
period of US History? Explain (e.g. one or more paragraphs). Insert answer here.
In the past, I had believed the Dust Bowl to be a more localized condition in the MidWest. While the Dust Bowl spanned several states, the drought maps of the time show
a deeper drought that spanned most of the US. The GIS maps helped to correlate the
disparity in rainfall with the intensity of the Dust Bowl, which allowed me to question
the presumption that the Dust Bowl was a man-made disaster. Prior teachings and
resources had blamed man for the Dust Bowl because of our farming techniques,
destruction of prairie grasses, and destruction of drought-resistant buffer zones
that would have prevented soil loss. While it is my opinion that all of these were
contributing factors, the GIS maps make it plain to see that the true connection
between the Dust Bowl and any single factor was rainfall. Rainfall was at record lows
for almost 10 years, a condition that man could neither induce nor prevent, which, in
my opinion, is the main cause for the dust storms, crop failures, and destruction of
good farm land in the Mid-West.
One of the most iconic images of the Dust Bowl is that of “Migrant Mother” by
Dorothea Lange. Research, insert, and provide background information. Here is a site
to begin: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128_migm.html Research other sites.
“Migrant Mother” was a photo captured by Dorothea Lange in March of 1936, during
the heart of the Dust Bowl. Lange was working for the Farm Security Administration
and was given the assignment of documenting, through photographs, the impacts that
federal programs were having on rural farmers. Lange found the mother of seven and
took 6 photos. The mother, aged 32, never gave her name of history to Lange but
posed for the photographs. The lady was located 175 Miles north of Los Angeles (a
major city at the time and located thousands of miles away from the Dust Bowl) at
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Pea-Pickers Camp. Upon the publication of her photos, the federal government rushed
20,000 lbs of food to the camp to alleviate the hunger documented by Lange. The lady
depicted remained anonymous until the late 1970’s when it was determined that
Florence Owens Thompson was her identity,
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Are there any drought areas in the USA at the moment? Research, insert pertinent
imagery, and discuss. http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
Currently, almost the entire state of California is experiencing either extreme
drought or exceptional drought. According to the drought monitor website, in many
regions of the US this could be one of the driest Januarys on record. Out West and
over the Rocky’s, temperatures were up to 20 degrees warmer than normal. In the
east, a snow storm has brought much precipitation and left that area of the country
5-10 degrees lower than average. Most of the land area east of the Mississippi is not
being affected by any form of drought.
Provide some examples of other civilizations around the world that have mysteriously
vanished leaving little archeological evidence as to “what happened”. Could an
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environmental event such as this (e.g. Drought) be the reason? What other reasons
might be possible? Explain and discuss. Insert answer here. [Hint: MaError!
Hyperlink reference not valid.chu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Mesa Verde … good images
help a discussion]
Many civilizations have vanished without a trace throughout history and prehistory. Although the true causes may never be known, archeological evidence has
given proof that many civilizations were destroyed by natural disasters; water
shortages in particular. Among these civilizations recent evidence has shown that the
Mayan culture, Angkor, and the Indus River Valley were all destroyed in part due to
drought. At the time, these were some of the most advanced civilizations on earth but
they were still dependent on water.
The Mayan civilization was located in Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The
civilization had numerous cities spread throughout these modern countries and had
even developed calendars based upon astronomy. They dominated the Yucatan
Peninsula in the first half of the millennium but their cities, their civilization, and any
trace of an organized society ended around 900 AD. Evidence uncovered by the Blue
Hole in Belize shows that there was an almost 300 year drought which ended their
reign. This fact was determined by measuring the mineral composition of the soil
found in the Blue Hole that corresponded to the specific time period. The fact that a
drought could end a civilization that was almost a thousand years old attests to the
hold water has over man.
Image of the Ancient Mayan Civilization that was Ended Due to Drought
(http://cdn.worldtechtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mayacivilization.jpg)
The Angkor, Cambodia civilization was an agricultural society that was the
most advanced of its time. Spanning 6 centuries from 800AD to 1400AD the society
made numerous gains in agriculture. A soil analysis determined a large contributing
factor to the demise of the Kingdom: two droughts. A three-decade drought from
1330-1360 and a second one from 1400-1420 made the empire fractional and weak.
Furthermore, the El Nino weather system (a system of ocean and warm air currents)
may have fueled the drought that destroyed the Angkor Empire. A raid from Thailand
took advantage of this weakened state and collapsed the empire. The Angkor
civilization shows the importance of water by providing an example of how a combined
total of 50 years of drought can destroy 400 years of human progress and work. The
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El Nino weather system (a system of ocean and warm air currents) may have fueled
the drought that destroyed the Angkor Empire.
Aerial Image of the Religious Center of Angkor Watt, Cambodia
(http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/005/264/i02/angkor-canal-10033002.jpg?1296084237)
The Indus river Valley is one of the oldest homes to human civilization.
Surviving until the late Bronze Age, the Indus River Valley is located in present day
India and is still home to a large population. Recent archeological evidence has shown
the summer monsoon season and rainfall averages of the region were decreased
noticeably for over 200 years spanning from 4,000 to 4,200 years ago. This evidence
suggests that the Indus River Valley, home to a large population, was vacated due to a
lack of rainfall, which destroyed crops and created a famine in the region, which
exacerbated the stress on the civilization.
Map of the Indus River Valley Civilization
(http://www.allaboutgemstones.com/images/history_jewelry_indus_valley_map.jpg)
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“Water is the Oil of This Century” (Rogers 2004). Just how precious are water
resources to past, current, and future civilizations? Research and discuss this
concept (e.g. three plus paragraphs). Hint: Refer to the following link to gain insight
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into just one aspect of water resources for the USA:
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/fact-sheet/drinking-water
Water is the single most important product and resource on the planet.
Societies have begun and ended depending on their water supply. Even today, with all
of the technology available, approximately 1.6 billion people live in areas affected by
water shortage due to lack of infrastructure (WHO). In the United States, a global
dominant, the water infrastructure is nearing the end of its life with some estimates
of the replacement bill coming to almost a trillion dollars (ASCE). What this means is
that with the recent surge in population, and outdate water infrastructure, that the
world faces a real water shortage unless something is done. The economic impact of
the current situation in the United States, for example, is predicted to cost the
nation 60-80 billon dollars in 2020 and upwards of 500,000 jobs (Economic
Development).
In most regions of the United States water is not scarce. In this we are
fortunate because in most third world countries water collection and sanitation takes
up a large part of an average day. Economic hardship and poverty has left some 700
million people in 43 countries facing water scarcity, a number that could jump to 1.8
billion by the United Nations. This sort of epidemic seems very removed to most
citizens of first world nations but this outlook should not become the norm. Because
water is the most important resource on the earth (without it, life would not exist),
numerous wars, conflicts, and potentials disease epidemics and pandemics could be the
future if an alternative or corrective action is not taken. Water usage has increased
at twice the rate of population growth (UN), an increase that is further straining the
water production and gathering abilities of the world. Clean, drinkable, fresh water is
worth more than its weight in gold in regions that face shortages or are unable to
access the essential quantities needed to grow crops, drink, and bathe with.
In the past many civilizations were located around water resources for either
trade or agricultural reasons. The Indus River Valley, early Egyptian, Chinese, and
Mesopotamian civilizations are all prime examples of early human settlements that
were organized along rivers or large bodies of water. Currently, the world has never
been better prepared to move water from areas where it is abundant to areas where
it is required (Lake Mead and Las Vegas being a prime example) but in todays modern
world, new hygiene standards, laundry, sewers, and dozens of other modern facets of
civilization are requiring larger and larger volumes of water per person. Unless more
efficient and cost effective solutions can be found to solve our growing water crisis,
the world is going to suffer a huge crisis. The need for improved infrastructure,
newer designs for water capture, sanitation, and storage has never been at a higher
demand. When a quarter of the world faces water a shortage and almost half of the
world is in a water threatened area something needs to implemented.
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(UN Water for Life)
Your task is to present the “Dust Bowl” research to the “public-at-large” (e.g. little to
no GIS or Dust Bowl knowledge). Create a PowerPoint Presentation (20 slides
minimum) that would carry the thrust of this article’s GIS research findings, including
your pre-conceived ideas, as well as discussion of other “lost” civilizations around the
world as they could potentially pertain to this case history in conjunction with the
growing worldwide value of water resources. This PowerPoint is designed to be
presented to an audience … hence “presented” … thus, less text, larger font/images,
etc. Attach as a color handout, two slides per page.
Upload this completed word document as well as your PowerPoint to e-Portfolio as
artifacts.
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Designed by:
Last Modified:
COL Gary K. Rogers, PE, PhD
02/01/04
COL Gary K. Rogers, PE, PhD
02/03/15
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