Dust storms across the U.S. central plains states have become more frequent and intense over the last 20 years, according to a study by multi-disciplinary team of meteorologists and atmospheric scientists.
Andy Lambert, a meteorologist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, noticed the trend when he reviewed satellite data about atmospheric dust and haze. He looked more deeply into the data and could trace it back into the previous century, finally concluding that levels of wind-blown dust have doubled since 2000.
The dust-bowl-level storms are being revived by two trends.
First, grasslands on the plains are being plowed under and planted with corn to be turned into ethanol, encouraged by government policies favoring renewable fuels. Often, these lands are being left unprotected after harvest, leaving the topsoil to blow away.
That adds more dust to the soil already being carried away by winds during spring planting and fall harvest, times when the new dust storms are worst.
As topsoil vanishes with the wind, more grassland is plowed up to gain access to new fertile soil, exposing even more to the winds.
The flying dust particles borne on the wind are small enough to enter the lungs and cause heart and pulmonary disease, the scientists say.
Second, the region is beset by a long-term drought that could grow to be worse than any seen in the last 1,000 years, according to a recent study by NASA and researchers at three U.S. universities. The Ogallala Aquifer, the underground lake stretching from New Mexico to South Dakota on which plains farms depend, is gradually, relentlessly going dry.
TRENDPOST: Heat, drought, and changing consumer preferences are spurring crop scientists to develop new strains of staple crops and will force industrial-style, single-crop farmers on the central plains to radically redesign the way they farm. Ultimately, the new Dust Bowl could force changes in how and what we eat.
