Dust Bowl
photo taken from motherjones.com
The Dust Bowl was a period in history of severe dust storms that caused major agricultural and ecological damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930-1936. This was the result of a severe drought with decades of extensive farming without the proper crop rotation and other techniques that help prevent erosion. During this period, grasses were destroyed and all soil turned to dust. Even if you think this is hard enough, the dust would come in storms where it would be blown eastwards and southwards in large dark clouds.
Also known as the Black Blizzard and Black Roller, these storms reduced visibility within a few feet. The clouds blackened the sky, reaching cities of the East Coast like New York and Washington D.C. Many left their farms and went on a search for work while others stayed and had to deal with all the harmful conditions. Families had to deal with dust in the air all the time, having little protection from having it inhaled. Much of the soil ended up to be deposited in the Atlantic Ocean.
To read more about the Dust Bowl, visit the following links below.
Works Cited/Further Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_bowl
http://www.usd.edu/anth/epa/dust.html
what was the date this picture was taken
It’s hard to tell since it is many years old. What you are seeing in the picture was a regular thing.