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Commitment is required to achieve the goals of national drought policy. That commitment must include resolve by the federal government to provide dependable, long-term funding of the required work and the personnel to carry out the work. Allocation of the funds needed to fulfill such a commitment should be based on consideration of the costs and benefits associated with drought impact-reduction measures.  |
In identifying drought as the top weather event of the 20th century, the climate periodical Weatherwise (November/December 1999) had this to say: "More than any other weather or climate event, the 1930s drought shaped American society. The Dust Bowl caused a legendary and influential migration from the Southern Plains to California, revolutionized agricultural policy on the Plains, and synchronized with the Great Depression to compound that event’s misery for millions. Even now, hundreds of heat records from the 1930s still stand across the Plains, and no drought this century attacked so much of the country for so long. At its height in July 1934, nearly two-thirds of the nation was considered to be in a severe to extreme drought." Return to Table of Contents | (Next Page) |
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