It's early 1933 in Washington, D.C. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is sitting in the

Oval Office reading through a report about soil ecology. It's dense and full of scientific jargon, but Roosevelt has convinced

that understanding it is essential for addressing an emerging crisis. It's been one month

since Roosevelt took office and in that short time he's worked tirelessly to address America's most urgent problems stemming from the continuing economic depression.

Roosevelt's New Deal legislation has helped stabilize the banking system.

It's provided emergency relief to states badly in need,

and new government initiatives have created jobs for thousands of unemployed Americans.

But there's one problem the President has no idea how to fix,

and it's weighed heavily on his mind.

Over the last two years,

the Southern Plains have been ravaged by an escalating series of dust storms.

These events have transformed the region, damaging property, causing deaths and forcing

countless farmers to flee their land.

Many of the country's top scientists say that these dusters are a result of drought.

Since there's no public policy that can change the weather, they say the best course of action would be to abandon

the plains and resettle farmers in other parts of the country. What a soil scientist

named Hugh Bennett has a different theory. Bennett believes that while the region's weather is part of the problem,

the dust storms are likely the consequence of man-made decisions. So President Roosevelt invited

Bennett to the White House to discuss these ideas.

Because if Bennett is right, if humans cause this growing crisis,

then maybe Roosevelt can do something to undo the damage.

There's a knock on. damage.

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