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November 1971
"Well, if He doesn't, 1 don't know
who does," admitted the bewildered
businessman.
One world-known weather authority
and one time Assistant Chief of the
U. S. Weather Bureau, Ivan Ray Tan–
nehill, commented on this attitude of
mind:
"In America we have a drought prob-
Wlde World Photo
DUST BOWL DAYS -
A "block
roller" dust storm swirls down on
a ranch yard near Boise City,
Okla., in 1935. In the Dust Bowl
years from 1934 through 1938
there were 263 such dust storms
recorded in Texas and Oklahoma
alone. Sorne oreas lost a foot or
more of topsoil to the winds.
lem but it is not yet a question of fam–
ine. But it is characteristic of the
American people that we like to cross
our bridges only when we come to
them. In times of heavy rainfall we talk
of fiood control and in times of drought
we talk of soil conservation.... We
must examine the records of weather
and dimate and identify the withering
hand that falls upon our farms and
The
PLAIN TRUTH
ranges every few years"
(Drought, Its
Causes and Effects,
Ivan Ray Tannebill,
p.
22).
Furthermore, the same author stated,
"History shows that
dro11ght Jies at the
bottom of most fami11es."
To the aver–
age, well-fed Westerner the thought of
famine is a joke. "Why, with modero
technology and current farming prac–
tices we'll never have famine," sorne
might think. But this head-in-the-sand
approach is dangerous.
Man's Sbort-sightedness
Sadly, it
is
man's mis-management of
land that has helped make drought such
a destructive force. Prior to the opening
up of the vast U. S. Great Plains grass–
land for lucrative wheat farming, there
was little or no erosion in the area. His–
torically, the rains carne; so did periods
of drought, and .fierce winds. But the
rich earth was protected by thick buf–
falo grass sod, which carpeted this heart–
land against wind or water erosion.
Then carne pioneer farmers and theic
short-sightedness. They ploughed up
vast areas of natural grasses, leaving
scant protection for the bare earth, not
considering the harsh winds which at–
tack the American Middle West annu–
ally. The planting of trees as wind
breaks was seldom considered. &ologist
Paul Sears put his finger on the problem
with this observation: ' 'The high plains
are subject to recurring periods of
drought, usually lasting for severa[ years,
and alternating with groups of normal
or moist years.
T o thiJ regime the native
grasses were adjmted. Wheat was not.
And when the prolonged dryness of the
1930's carne the fall-sown wheat failed
to germinate, leaving nothing to hold
the loose soils against the high winds
of late winter and spring. With them
carne dust storms, made gigantic by the
presence of hundreds of thousands of
acres of bare soil."
Unfortunately, sound ecological prin–
cipies in farming were too often neg–
lected even when these facts were
understood.
Little thought was given to the long–
raoge effects upon the land. Sorne future
generation would handle these prob–
lems, it was thought. Soil conservation
was boro only out of the terrible Dust
Bowl days. Tragically, it took devas-
tating erosion to move sorne farmers to
become conservation minded.
Today, economic realities restrict even
well-meaning farmers from practicing
total conservation, since they must be
concerned with making profits or going
under economically. Unfortunately, eco·
nomics and other forces all too often
encourage
farmers to neglect sound eco–
logical principies.
And in this economic stcaitjacket,
farmers find science is hamstrung in its
ability to help. Jmplementing the inven–
tions and discoveries of science costs the
farmec money, which often he doesn't
have because prices for
bis
crops are too
low. His dilemma is
real.
To the average farmer, looking out
ovec parched fields, insect-laden crops
- thinking of the low profit on bis
crops and the high costs of farming -
must come the thought, "There must be
a
beller tuay."
There must be a
better
tuay
to farro, a
betler tuay
to get rid of
insect plagues, a
beller way
to manage a
farm economy, and a
better way
to
receive enough precious water.
Difficult to Pin Down
The cause of the "withecing hand" of
drought mentioned by Tannehill, even
today after decades of study, remains
unidentified. Quite frankly, droughts
are a mystery to most meteorologists.
Mr. John T. Caer, Jr., Assistant to
Executive Director, Texas Water Devel–
opment Board, stated in a report pub–
lished April 1971: "The major causes
of drought in Texas can be described,
but the
forces behind the causes are
more dilfiCIIlt to pin down."
Uncertainty pervades the subject of
forces behind drought in other areas too.
No one seems to know its real causes.
Just why and when does rainfall
fail? What causes drought?
If
the
causes could be determined, then per–
haps man could predict drought, and
better prepare for it, avoiding resultant
crop failures and famines.
A Rurry of scientific study has been
undertakea in receat decades concerning
drought. Meteorologists have studied
the earth's atmosphere in hopes of de–
termining and predicting droughts.
One such group of scientists, Krick
Associates, Inc., call themselves Wea–
ther Engineers. Many of these roen