May 27 is the 100th anniversary of Rachel Carson' birth.
Carson once said: "The 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and the convenience of man." As you can see, Carson was a true believer and she was not above a little sloganeering.
Carson's most famous book Silent Spring was instrumental in creating widespread public support for the banning of the pesticide DDT. The case against DDT was that it caused environmental damage, in particular, by weakening the eggshells of birds and that it caused cancer in humans. However, the link between DDT and cancer has never been proven.
While Rachel Carson did not call for the total ban on DDT, her book caused a stampede by the true believing public to have it banned and hundreds, perhaps, thousands of scientists of all stripes joined in the public outcry against DDT. And so it was banned. There is no record that I know of where Carson decried that ban.
DDT had, up until that time, been used to eradicate malaria carrying mosquitoes and it had done that quite successfully. Since the banning of DDT malaria has had a resurgence. Annual cases of malaria are in the hundreds of millions with an estimated one million deaths a year because of it. No-one will ever be able to tabulate the number of deaths attributable to the banning of DDT but, certainly, it will be in the tens of millions. Rachel Carson will be remembered for many things but it is not often that she will be remembered for this. She should be.
It is claimed that when Carson wrote Silent Spring she unwittingly founded the modern environmental movement. We can also thank Carson for the modern money generating, publicity seeking environmental hysteria peddlers who ride her coattails. Does anyone, in particular, come to mind?
Viktor Silo
Silent Spring, published in '62 and the "Population Bomb" by Paul R. Ehrlich later in '68 did a lot to shape the US culturally, with the results seen today.
ReplyDeleteThe low birthrate a result, at least in part, to Ehrlich's work and the mindset it helped create in the United States.
You know the governments logic is truly befuddled when they can't even get a Military tribunal judge to rule in their favor:
ReplyDeleteJudge Throws Out Charges in Guantanamo Prisoner Case
Thanks for the chance to guest post, guys. It was a privilege.
ReplyDeleteAfter spraying with many types of farm chemicals over the years, I'm sure they can cause a lot of damage to the birds, particularily during the hatching season. I have seen chicks so mal-formed they are not going to last out there two weeks. The eagles though are back around here, big time.
ReplyDeleteAre there any alternatives to DDT that work, are cost effective, and don't cause the damage? I don't know for sure. Is DDT being used again in some parts of Africa? Again, don't know for sure.
Don't fool around with parathion. There have been deer that have wandered into a field just sprayed with parathion, keeled right over, resperatory arrest.
ReplyDeleteProfessional Applicators Only!
Bobalharb
ReplyDeleteSince you taught me how to link I'm going to try one.
No reason to celebrate
I just re-read the piece and would like point out that it dated May 27. I wrote mine on the 24th.
Here is a short article updating some infro on malaria and DDT. Who would have quessed, the sqeeters have mutated in some areas. A vaccine against malaria is being developed, but the going is slow. People before sqeeters is the correct outlook, according to this article, which makes a lot of sense, if you are one of the people. There are other compounds to use, but they are somewhat more expensive. Put a screen on your dwellings doors and windows is a heck of a good idea.
ReplyDeleteBobalharb
ReplyDeleteGood article. Again, I thank you.
You say, "People before sqeeters is the correct outlook, according to this article, which makes a lot of sense, if you are one of the people." And what if you are not one of the people?
I lived in the mosquito infested north for many years. We did all the things you recommend and we got by quite nicely. But, then, we didn't have malaria mosquitoes.
I am very sympathetic to concerns over damage to wildlife and the enviroment but until they invent an alternative to DDT I don't see how we can't use it.