DDT

Shortly after World War II, thick clouds of smog hovered above major cities around the United States. American’s were becoming very ill and dying from health related issues from pollution inhalation. Rivers and lakes were littered with garbage and were too contaminated to enjoy. The misuse of pesticides was occurring around the nation, killing everything in its path, literally. Over three million gallons of crude oil spewed into the ocean at a rate of one thousand gallons, an hour, for a month.…

assumed that his personal definition of technology is extremely broad, including all new ways our world functions, not just machinery and computer software. DDT is a widely recognized chemical which is famous for eventually mutating the eggshells of birds. I personally remember reading about this particular biomagnification process including DDT in my grade eight textbooks. By Suzuki bringing forth a well-known topic and using it as his example, the reader is able to understand where his…

did 60 years ago, because they do not have the patience or attention span to sit down and read. Another reason this grabbed the attention of the public back in the sixties was due to this issue being addressed for the first time. Due Carson’s book DDT as well as other pesticides were banned, from the community becoming aware of how dangerous these pesticides were. However, in today’s world this issue was address over 50 years ago, meaning people have been aware of this issue for decades now, and…

that we figured out that gold was too dense to make us float, and money was too unforgiving to ever break our fall. Such was the case with DDT and other such pesticides, talked about in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring which I was responsible for discussing in our presentation. “DDT is Good For Me” as the chemical industry marketing departments would say. DDT was sprayed over huge areas of land with little to no oversight for years. It took an individual professionally unrelated to finally…

be our national bird. An eagle has to maintain a very fast paced lifestyle, in order to survive, but they are able to maintain it and are very proud of it. They have to constantly search for food that hasn’t been tainted with pesticides, such as DDT, and other pesticides that their food might intake, which then infects them. It has been recorded that they eat a large variety of food such as, fish, rodents, birds, snakes, monkeys, rabbits, and other small animals. (Animal Planet)…

that should be put into practice for the benefit of humanity. Witnessing the recklessness of the human race through detrimental untested technological innovations, Suzuki describes through several examples the damages of technologies such as that of DDT and thalidomide. Furthermore Suzuki outlines a dangerous system ridden with a lack of consistency when testing new technology, as well as a societal norm which values innovation over preservation whether it be of technology or more specifically…

putting it in a plant to engorge it above the average norm. Monsanto is a biotech company and is the largest producer of genetically modified seeds, roundup, and herbicides(Edwards). In the mid 20th century the company came out with DDT among many other products. DDT, one of Monsanto’s first product, was a pesticide for mosquitos that later turned out to impose serious threats to your immune system, cause infertility, and liver damage(Palmer). All this happened despite the fact that Monsanto had…

When activists, citizens, and others made pleas for prosecuting the companies who were manipulating information and committing investor fraud, Congress enacted a corporate reform law (130). This law placed heavy requirements on companies while ignoring those who failed in regulating the previous companies. While the corporate reforms did improve the companies superficially, the only way to actually improve a company is moral reform. There are three principles that summarize corporate reform.…

Even though climate change is intimidating, people should still participate in activism. Take the character Tyrone Tierwater, from the short story "The Siskiyou, July 1989", for example. Tyrone was terrified, but he still took the initiative to get involved and protest. Although the protest was seemingly unsuccessful, it still made an impact. After the protest is over Tyrone refers to it as “... a joke, a big joke, the whole thing” (Boyle 33). He felt as though the whole thing as a waste of time…

Starting at the beginning, although our ancestors did not have any knowledge of DNA, let alone genetics, they influenced the DNA of other organisms by selective breeding. Unknown to most, it is believed the first artificially selected organism was not a plant, but a dog about 32,000 years ago. It was not until around 7800 BCE that artificial selection was used on wheat. Artificial selection is still around, but when people refer to GMOs nowadays they are referring to the modern altering of…