Q The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s was a striking example of desertification due to poor agricultural practices. Parts of the Great Plains have still not recovered from the Dust Bowl drought as evidenced by abandoned farmhouses that can still be seen in more remote areas of the Northern Plains. While most natural disasters are over relatively quickly, allowing rebuilding and recovery to begin, droughts can last for decades or even centuries. In fact, the collapse and abandonment of agricultural civilizations time and time again in human history has been linked to widespread or prolonged droughts. Examples included the Anasazi of the American Southwest, the Maya of Central America, and numerous civilizations of the ancient Middle East. What do you think the effects of a prolonged, intense drought lasting a decade or more affecting a large proportion of the agricultural lands in the United Sates would be today? Do you think the United States is better equipped to deal with a prolonged and widespread natural disaster such as a Dust Bowl-type drought today than we were in the 1930s? What could be done to prepare for or even prevent the economic collapse of agricultural economies during a prolonged drought? Is modern America society any better equipped to weather (no pun intended) a prolonged and widespread drought than the Anasazi were?