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Dust Bowl

(Encyclopedia)Dust Bowl, the name given to areas of the U.S. prairie states that suffered ecological devastation in the 1930s and then to a lesser extent in the mid-1950s. The problem began during World War I, when...

dust, atmospheric

(Encyclopedia)dust, atmospheric, minute particles slowly settling or suspended by slight currents and existing in varying amounts in all air. There is least dust at high levels over the ocean and most at low levels...

dust devil

(Encyclopedia)dust devil: see whirlwind.

dust mite

(Encyclopedia)dust mite: see mite.

Laguna District

(Encyclopedia)Laguna District [Span.,=lake], irrigated area in E Durango and W Coahuila states, N central Mexico. Originally a 900,000-acre (364,200-hectare) tract, consisting of large estates, the land was reappor...

drought

(Encyclopedia)drought, abnormally long period of insufficient rainfall. Drought cannot be defined in terms of inches of rainfall or number of days without rain, since it is determined by such variable factors as th...

Burns, Ken

(Encyclopedia)Burns, Ken (Kenneth Lauren Burns), 1953–, American documentary filmmaker, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Hampshire College (1975). Acting as producer, director, and cinematographer, Burns typically explor...

Guthrie, Woody

(Encyclopedia)Guthrie, Woody (Woodrow Wilson Guthrie), 1912–67, American folk singer, guitarist, and composer, b. Okemah, Okla. Guthrie was an itinerant musician and laborer from the age of 13. Deeply involved in...

separator, cream

(Encyclopedia)separator, cream, dairy machine used to separate fresh whole milk into cream and skim milk. Formerly the separation was made by the gravity method, allowing the cream to rise to the top of a pan and t...

Brady, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Brady, Tom (Thomas Edward Patrick Brady, Jr.), 1977–, American football player, b. San Mateo, Calif. One of the greatest professional quarterbacks of all time, he attended the Univ. of Michigan (199...