2-378-238 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

Dust storms affecting Cimarron County, Oklahoma, USA, April 1936. The Dust Bowl was a series of devastating dust storms that affected the prairies of the United States and Canada between 1930 and 1936. They were caused by a combination of the farming techniques used (particularly deep ploughing and the removal of grass that previously kept topsoil in place) and droughts, which caused the topsoil to turn to dust and blow away. Millions of acres of farmland became unusable and hundreds of thousands of people had to abandon their farms because of the dust storms and their subsequent inability to make ends meet. Oklahoma was one of the states that was hit the hardest.