A farmer inspects his badly wind-eroded field in 1977. Drought is a cyclical problem in some regions of the United States, particularly in the Midwest and West.

In the Great Depression of the 1930s, economic hardship intensified when severe erosion caused by drought, dust storms and poor agricultural practices stripped away topsoil. The Great Plains became known as the “Dust Bowl” and harsh conditions persisted for 10 years, turning thousands of farming families into internally displaced persons. (NRCS; US National Archives)