The Dust Bowl resulted from a combination of environmental conditions and human activity. Decades of poor farming practices, including deep plowing and removal of native grasses, left soil exposed and vulnerable. Expansion of agriculture during and after World War I, along with overgrazing and mechanized farming, worsened the damage. When a severe drought began in 1931, the dry, unanchored topsoil was easily swept away by strong winds, creating massive dust storms and widespread ecological collapse.
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