Just like early civilizations, why did the early Chinese settle near rivers?

China has two major river systems that provided fertile soil and safe drinking water. The early people called the rivers in China "The Great Sorrow". That's because each spring the rivers would overflow their banks. The Yangtze River had high banks which kept the homes built on high ground safe.

Explanation:

the causes of the dust bowls were severe droughts,   lands became dry and hard, temperature was higher than usual, hot and dry conditions killed crops, high winds. because of those factors, the winds kicked up dry soil and created clouds of dust.

a variant spelling of the word dote (british)