Fallowed Fields Are Fueling California’s Dust Problem

Fallowed Fields Are Fueling California’s Dust Problem

California produces more than a third of the vegetables and three quarters of the fruits and nuts in the United States. But water constraints are leaving more and more fields unplanted, or “fallowed,” particularly in the state’s famed farming hub, the Central Valley. In a study published in Communications Earth and Environment, researchers showed that these fallowed agricultural lands are producing a different problem: dust storms, which can cau…