We identified fallowed land—an unplanted agricultural land parcel—as a key anthropogenic dust source in California. Specifically, we find that the Central Valley accounts for about 77% of total fallowed land areas in California, where they are associated with about 88% of major anthropogenic dust events. We also find that the geographic coverage of these fallowed lands expanded between 2008 and 2022 with associated increasing anthropogenic dust activities. Additionally, these anthropogenic dust activities are sensitive to the drought severity over the fallowed lands, with potential cumulative effects on downstream dust burden during prolonged multi-year drought conditions. Overall, our results have important implications for public health, including increased risk for Valley fever….
Adebiyi, Adeyemi A., Md Minhazul Kibria, John T. Abatzoglou, Paul Ginoux, Satyendra Pandey, Alexandra Heaney, Shu-Hua Chen, and Akintomide A. Akinsanola. “Fallowed agricultural lands dominate anthropogenic dust sources in California.” Communications Earth & Environment 6, no. 1 (2025): 324.
There’s going to be more and more fallow land as farmers sell water rights to water that isn’t there to developers, who will be disincorporated and beyond reach,legally. Good time to be old.
They need to spray them with some molasses…
Can’t some type of vegetation that is drought resistant be put there to help hold down the soil and help this issue? Surely, there was vegetation there before the land was cleared for raising crops.