It's one of those "depends on definition" thingies. By scientific definition, deserts are defined by having under 24 cm of rainfall per year average on a multi-decade span. I'm not sure exactly to what you refer but I don't think we can do anything bad enough to keep the rain our of Maine.
What you seem to be describing may be the "Desert of Maine" it's more of a wasteland, where overgrazing had destroyed a feeble topsoil exposing an ancient silt bed. This ecological oddity is now a tourist trap. http://www.desertofmaine.com.
By climate, small, and manmade - every building in Maine except agricultural greenhouses.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.