Silent Spring
discuss the consequences Carson suggests if we continue with the chemical pollution as she describes. I want you to consider the fact that in her time, the 1950’s and 1960’s, the power lines in a city like Clinton would be lined with birds, and now they are not. When I first moved here in 1991, the noise from tree frogs every night was pretty loud, and I guess in some sense annoying, but now it is pretty much gone, except for the odd frog. The silence is far worse than the noise to me.
However, OTOH, a move to ban DDT has been pretty disastrous, with increases in malaria deaths since the 1970s, when the ban DDT movement began. There is no evidence of any serious effect of DDT on humans and some indirect evidence that DDT harms birds (declines in bird populations correlate with the use of DDT, but no actual demonstration that DDT ingested by birds causes them harm). So I also want you to consider the consequences of totally banning the release of chemicals into the environment.
DISCUSSION on Forum (Must answer separately from main paper): I am interested in your take on Silent Spring in light of the modern environmental movement. I am interested in a critical analysis. Are all the things that have happened in this area good? Some good?None good?