In 1931, severe drought hit the Midwestern and Southern Plains. That nearly 500 miles of farmland would not become golden with wheat until eight years later. Watch "Surviving the Dust Bowl" tonight at 10/9c on PBS or stream it on PBS online the PBS Video app. to.pbs.org/3PQAfyU | American Experience | PBS

In the 1930s, the US experienced what has been called its greatest ecological disaster, when the dust bowl ravaged the midwest, eroding topsoil, destroying crops, and displacing millions. As climate change exacerbates drought across much of the US in places like Phoenix and the larger Colorado River basin, damaging dust storms and haboobs are becoming more common, leading many experts to ask whether we might be heading into another dust bowl. | PBS Digital Studios