I did not anticipate entering a dust storm area after I left Boise, Idaho this morning. NPR reported on dust storms caused by soil erosion in the American Southwest. I experienced that odd feeling of synchronicity outside Baker, Oregon (in the American Northwest) as I passed a sign that warned: “Blowing Dust Area.”
Soil erosion is a by-product of aggressive agricultural practices and is exacerbated by drought and off-road vehicles. Over-grazing by cattle and sheep decimate plant life that acts to hold the soil together. Constant crop production using chemical fertilizers and pesticides exhausts the nutrient value of the soil and kills non-crop plant species that help form soil “crust”. Why is it important to have stable topsoil? Imagine blowing on a pile of crushed graham crackers and on a baked pie crust. The crushed crackers blow away, leaving you with no base for your pie.
The NPR story takes place in the Great Basin Desert of Utah. Baker City is part of the High Country Desert that covers eastern Oregon. Neither of the deserts is unique, nor is desert the only ecosystem that is at risk. The Great Plains lost much of its topsoil during the dust storms of the Great Depression and continues to lose topsoil to this day. This much is known.
Agronomists say that it can take hundreds or thousands of years for desert “crust” to form. This process utilizes water (and other favorable conditions), but the American West is at the beginning of what climatologists call a megadrought that is expected to last for another 25 years. The drought also will affect non-desert lands, especially agricultural lands that are farmed and grazed with non-sustainable practices.
I felt lucky to pass through a handful of dust clouds without accident and cross the Blue Mountains west into a region less prone to dust storms, at least for now.
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