I’m too young to have lived through the Dust Bowl but my folks were ages 10 and 5 in 1929 and lived in Kansas so they saw some of the effects. I’ve been on farms in those areas as a wheat harvest hand back in the 70s and did get to talk to some who went through it. What I write below is my impression of those relationships, conversations, personal observation, etc. No claims of scientific data or accuracy at all.
I did not see Burns’ “Dust Bowl” series so I’m operating at a disadvantage by not being able to offer compare/contrast analysis. I will proceed from your statement on “man-made” vs. climate to offer opinion. In this case, I believe it was a combination of both factors: poor farming practices that were compounded by horrific weather patterns. Fence to fence plowing exposed topsoil to moisture loss and had little to stop it from blowing if exposed to significant wind. Some of the soils being used for cultivation agriculture were not well-suited for that and would not have been except for price production pressure.
General financial conditions then added to the disaster as many were operating close to the line and one small event could cascade to topple the house of cards. Pledged farm values fell due to poor crop prices and the loss of soil productivity. This collapse drove farmers off the farm as bankers foreclosed so the great migration to CA ensued.
So, yes, men made plenty of mistakes and poor choices in the years leading to the Dust Bowl. It still required the uncontrollable causative factor of the weather pattern going into drought to expose all the mistakes and poor choices. Drought has certainly visited the same area many times since but some lessons were learned and improvements were applied to lessen the effects. The potential still exists, IMO, because some of the “improvements” could yet become future causative factors.
Thank you. That is an excellent and balanced thought.
I do believe that Burns stating point blank that it was man made reflects his communist worldview.