EROSION

In the 1930s, eroding soil and the resulting gigantic dust storms, some reaching as high as 8,000 feet, destroyed millions of acres of farmland. When a congressional committee met in 1935 to discuss the problem, a soil scientist named Hugh Bennett (1881-1960) explained that farmers needed to change their methods, for example by rotating crops. But the committee was unconvinced it needed to take action—until a monster dust storm that “blotted out the sun” blew into Washington, D.C. Congress approved a soil conservation agency, the first of its kind, and Bennett became its director, reducing the areas affected by the Dust Bowl by half in two years. Pattison tells an entertaining story that captures not just scientific facts, but human drama as well. She makes erosion immediately understandable through simple but accurate language and attention-grabbing comparisons, such as a storm that “could have covered…Chicago in soil 12 inches (30.48 centimeters) deep.” But she doesn’t explain that plowing the deep-rooted native prairie contributed greatly to erosion. Willis’ illustrations are stylish, richly colored, and dynamic, with playful details, like the recurring image of a raccoon covering its eyes from the dust.

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