What were two causes of the dust bowl?
1. Drought: The dust bowl was exacerbated by a severe and prolonged drought in the 1930s, which caused topsoil to become loose and easily blown away by strong winds.
2. Unsustainable farming practices: The agricultural practices of the time, such as excessive plowing, monoculture farming, and lack of crop rotation, depleted the soil of nutrients and organic matter, making it more vulnerable to erosion. This, combined with the drought, created the perfect conditions for the dust storms that characterized the dust bowl.