I. Introduction a. Background information parathion and use of pesticides in the 1950-1960s b. Information about the environmental movement that happened after the book was published THESIS: In the excerpt from Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, she states that the use of spraying pesticides is not worth the damage done because of the poison's widespread damage to nature and farmers' ignorance to the dangerous effects parathion has on humans and their worker's lives. II. Body Paragraph 1 a. Carson describes parathion's widespread danger by presenting much of wildlife that was killed as a result of spraying the poison's damage as innocent and describing other deaths as an attempt to change the audience's view to have sympathy for these unintended deaths that do…
In the reading, Carson mentions how insecticides were initially used as a bug repellant and aid to protect the crops becoming a victim to Darwin’s principles. Reasons that insecticides became a victim to Darwin’s principle was because Darwin’s principle mentioned in this reading was survival of the fittest, which man did not seem to do when making these chemical insecticides. Instead, man created a vicious, harmful, chemical that would kill off every crop and soil that was around instead of doing what it was original purpose was, to kill the insects to protect the crops. What good is this insecticide for the crops and soil? How is this harmful chemical being served as protection for the crops and soil against the insects when once sprayed to kill the insects it kills the crops and soil in the process?…
Instead of these chemicals safeguarding us, they’re actually increasing the human death rate. “It is a sobering fact, however as we shall presently see, that the method of massive chemical control has had only limited success, and also threatens to worsen the every conditions is intended to do.” Without exception, each new pesticide is further treacherous than the one before it, according to Darwin’s principle, “of the survival of the fittest, have evolved super races immune to the particular insecticide used, hence a deadlier one has always to be developed and then a deadlier one than…
Pesticides can do many things that make human’s lives easier. They can kill unwanted bugs, which are called insecticides, they can kill unwanted plants, which are called herbicides, and they can kill fungi, which are called fungicides. There are many more pesticides out there as well, each with a different job. These pesticides are meant to help make human lives better, but do these pesticides really make our lives better? In Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson, pesticides are examined and shown how pesticides cause environmental issues far worse, than the pests humans are trying to kill.…
For hundreds of years, farmers have been observing their crops through generations and utilizing the benefits of selective breeding to achieve desired results. Historically, this was done by simply choosing which organisms are allowed to reproduce, but recent developments in food science have produced Genetically Modified Organisms. Some find the process of physically rearranging genes to be frightening and unacceptable, while others fully embrace GMOs as the natural next step in future technology. The GMO debate is widely participated in, from laboratories to universities to government to the average home. During a classroom debate in Biology, I was assigned to the pro-GMO team.…
Unfortunately man cannot seem to learn from their past mistakes. In the 1940s, DDT was first introduced to the world. It was marketed as an insecticide that kill insects that fed on crops and spread disease. DDT was looked at as a holy grail, a saviour to all of our problems. Sadly this was proven wrong, in 1972 the United States banned DDT.…
Many people debate on whether organic food is actually better for you. Advocates believe organic foods are safer and more nutritious. Although organic sales have been steadily increasing, “many experts say there’s not enough evidence to prove any real advantage to eating organic foods” (“Is Organic”). Much of the organic movement has been driven by social trends and misinformation about health benefits.…
This common theme is: what is the effect of producing and farming GMO’s on the environment? The effect on the production and farming of GMO’s on the surrounding the environment can be answered simply by saying, there are little to no negative effects. While traditional farming uses thousands of gallons of water, pesticide, and herbicide, modern GMO crops can be engineered to drastically reduce this. The widespread use of pesticide in the modern era of farming can have drastic adverse effects on not only the environment surrounding the infected area, but also the humans which inhabit that specific area. Pesticides are traditionally sprayed from crop duster airplanes; this is a highly ineffective way of covering the crops, and a highly effective way of infecting the environment with potentially deadly consequences.…
There are many pros and cons to using pesticides these days. They prevent disease and save crops but they also cause harm to our health. If we are careful around pesticides that are being used have been used recently that will help keep our health safer. We should watch what we eat and check our drinking water but without the pesticides we may have bigger problems such as death from disease and starvation from not enough…
Genetically modified crops and herbicides used to grow them harm animals and ecosystems. For instance, GMOs reduce “biodiversity, pollute water resources, and are unsustainable” (10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs 2). One example is the 50% population drop of monarch butterflies in the US. Research shows that this is because of the use of the Roundup herbicide. Because of GM crop seeds cross pollination, farmers who choose to grow organic and non-GMO crops “struggle to keep their crops pure” (10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs 1).…
Firstly, pesticide use has important benefits in Massachusetts and the United States. According to CropLife America, which represents pesticides manufactures, farmers would lose 40% to 80% of their crop yield without pesticides and pesticide use brings in $1 billion annually for more than twenty-five states. Thus, pesticides substantially increase crop yield and meet a growing population’s demand for fruits and vegetables, concurrently reducing an average family of four’s grocery bill by 47.9%. Also, in Massachusetts alone, crop protection chemicals employ 2,722 workers and account for $70,894,030 in annual revenue, which according to an article in Interdisciplinary Toxicology is often invested in education or medical care. On the other hand, pesticide…
Genetically Modified Food as a Way of Feeding the Rich Genetic modification is a huge step in human evolution, but, unfortunately, it is not clear to what direction the step is made. The whole idea of genetic modification is to invent organisms that can adapt to any natural disasters, and, most likely, it is the only way to deal with hunger. However, if we were capable and knowledgeable enough to distinguish genetically modified foods from natural ones, what would we choose? Obviously, we would choose what makes us healthier, gives energy, and, of course, tastes better. Even though GMOs were meant to help humankind in fight against hunger, they bring too many risks into our lives such as health problems and environment deterioration and might…
Although pesticides are meant to kill pest, why would you like to eat something that has the amount of poison to kill many insects? Wouldn’t you feel weird to eat something that contains that chemical that was able to kill millions of insect from infesting the fruit or vegetable? But we could try find other ways to prevent the use of chemical pesticides. We can think that GMOs can help in this situation, since scientists and biotechnicians are now trying create and develop food that are already pest free.…
Pesticides are the only toxic substances released intentionally into our environment to kill living things. This includes substances that kill weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides), fungus (fungicides), rodents (rodenticides), and others. Planes are used to release the heavy duty bug repellent on the plants. Through research and study, environmental scientist have discovered that spraying the pesticides are one of the main causes of honey bee deaths and other necessary animals. Also the pesticide runoff goes into the soil and water making them toxic, harmful and very hard to clean up.…
When a plant uses water and nutrients more efficiently, it allows farmers to conserve water and nutrients to be used for other plants which keeps more water and nutrients in the environment. Pesticides harm the environment so, if plants can become less dependent on pesticides, it will reduce the harmful effects that pesticides cause on the…