The Life And Defeat Of America's 19th Century Climate Prophet

John Steinbeck's classic novel 'The Grapes of Wrath' tells the story of the Joad family's journey west, away from their home in Oklahoma. In their odyssey towards California, which they imagine as some sort of utopic Garden of Eden, they join millions of other travelers who also flee hunger and misery. Or should we call them refugees? Climate refugees, indeed.

In 'The Grapes of Wrath', the Joad's farm is ruined by the huge dust storms that hit the US South and Midwest in the 1930s. Better known as the Dust Bowl, the area experienced a direct consequence of agricultural negligence. Farmers, many of whom had settled in the region in the late 19th century, ignored the arid conditions of the area, not using dryland agricultural techniques. Then came the drought, and the soil just turned to dust. Unanchored, the wind blew it away, reaching as far as Washington, DC.

All this could have been avoided if the politicians and businessmen who promoted the settlement of the American West would have listened to the director of the US Geological Survey at the time. John Wesley Powell had told them again and again: There's not enough water for traditional farming west from the 100th meridian. The climate in that area, he warned them, was cyclical, and drought would happen. And it did. Too bad it was too late.

Here you have Powell's story, which eerily resounds with today's climate conundrum. Then, like now, there were powerful white men selling an optimistic vision of the future which scientists seemed to be, at the very least, skeptical about. Then, it was 160 acres for each able man, farmable through irrigation. Now, it's infinite "green" growth and ever-growing consumption through geo-engineering.

This fascinating story is presented in the form of a 2.7k-word story that manages to feel short. It's very well written and structured, and it couldn't have come at a better time: In exactly a week, we'll hear what the Powells of today (the IPCC) have to say about our future. 

Let us not forget our past.