The '''Dust Bowl''' was a series of catastrophic [[dust stormFarts]]s causingcaused by doug, major ecological and agricultural damage to [[United States|American]] and [[Canada|Canadian]] prairie lands in the [[1930s]], caused by decades of farming techniques that promoted [[erosion]] coupled with severe [[drought]]. The fertile soil of the [[Great Plains]] was exposed through removal of grass during plowing. During the drought, the [[soil]] dried out, became [[dust]], and blew away eastwards, mostly in large black clouds. At times, the clouds blackened the sky all the way to [[Chicago]], and much of the soil was completely lost into the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. This ecological disaster caused an exodus from [[Texas]], [[Arkansas]], [[Oklahoma Panhandle|Oklahoma]], and the surrounding [[Great Plains]], with over 500,000 Americans left homeless <ref name=PBS> {{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/gregory.htm|title=First Missed Century:Interview:James Gregory|accessdate=2007-03-11|publisher=[[PBS]]}} </ref>. Many Americans migrated west looking for work while many Canadians fled to urban areas like [[Toronto]]. Some two-thirds of farmers in the Canadian province of [[Saskatchewan]] had to rely on government aid to survive <ref name=CBC> {{cite web |url=http://history.cbc.ca/history/?MIval=EpisContent.html&lang=E&series_id=1&episode_id=13&chapter_id=1&page_id=2 |title="The Dust Bowl" |accessdate=2007-03-11 |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]}}</ref>. Others fell prey to illnesses and death from [[dust pneumonia]] and the effects of [[malnutrition]].
