Friday, November 15, 2013
Silent Spring Chapter 5 - Realms of the Soil
In this chapter I am reminded of our soil lab where we focused on the process by which soil is made (weathering of rock by physical and chemical means) and the recycling of organic matter which results in soil fertility. Carson does a great job of subtly describing the science behind the subject matter she is presenting. In the opening few paragraphs she explains the rock cycle, soil production, geochemical cycles (focusing on carbon and nitrogen), and a description of bacterial and fungal life. After looking at this abiotic factor what are your thoughts about how this issue plays a role in the "health" of the soil that we all depend on.
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I never thought about soil as being a very difficult thing to come by, but it really has been formed over millions of years to fit our world’s needs both for biotic and abiotic factors. As we continue to emit more than the natural amounts of nitrogen and carbon into the air, it is quite possible that the cycle of soil development could be severely impacted. The way Carson talks about it, this may not be a good thing as it throws yet another intricately and delicately designed cycle into a chaotic mess.
"In it he gave the world its first understanding of the fundamental role of earthworms...by their excretory products" (55-56). Keeping in mind that the soil controls the existence of people and other animals, the contaminants that are continuously being added to the soil threatens the inhabitants of soil and the quality of soil itself. The passage I chose above talks about the fundamental role of the earthworm as a geologic agent being the transport of soil. Additionally, the earthworms' burrows aerate the soil, keep it well drained, and aid the penetration of plant roots. If contaminants continue to enter the soil, they could potentially kill off earthworms which would in turn affect plants, animals, and humans like a domino effect.
We all learned in elementary school that soil was the foundation for plants to grow, however soil, although it is often overlooked and never emphasized as being very important, is actually crucial to all life forms. If we didn't have soil, we wouldn't have plants, herbivores or carnivores and if we continue emitting chemicals at the rate we do, the "health" of the soil we all depend on could plummet, with the potential for a disastrous outcome. "It is almost certain we are heading for trouble", as Carson puts it.
"without soil, land plants as we know them could not grow, and without plants no animals could survive." (53).
Carson makes a good point here saying the health of the soil is extremely important to the planet and ecosystems. i think she wants to enforce the fact that we as a planet need to take care of our soils and not pollute them with unnecessary chemicals because plant life and animal life would be directly affected.
think Carson does a great job showing me the importance of soil and how damaging this soil would effect many life forms. "Bacteria, fungi, and algae are the principle agents of decay..."(54). This part was very interesting to me because before this I had no idea that bacteria would play such a big role in the keeping of soil. As I read through this I tried to imagine what life would be like if we killed off the bacteria in the soil. Would the process of decaying even exists? I can't even wrap my head around the concept of plants not being able to grow.
"…without soil, land plants as we know them could not grow, and without plants no animals could survive (Carson, 53).”
From water in chapter four, we move on to see how insecticide poisoning affects soil in chapter five. Whether we realized it or not, the earth’s soil controls people and other animals’ very existence. All around us there are complex processes occurring that we fail to acknowledge. The very formation of soil is something most people don’t understand, much less are concerned with. However, when put in blatant terms: “No soil, no plants, no us.” we all of a sudden have soil on our radar. Hopefully, knowing that soil constantly changes can give us some much needed hope, and inspire us to help out in any way possible. Since the most important organisms of the soil are the smallest, perhaps the smallest acts and efforts can be the most important steps to positive change.
"Arsenic provides.... years 1932 and 1952." (58)
This passage really bothered me. The fact that she begins by saying arsenic is basically a permanent poison to the soil, that makes me feel uneasy that this is a factor that may possibly not be controlled by us. And then the statistic of how there was an increase of arsenic in cigarettes, just goes to show that cigarettes are bad for you, and always will be. These chemicals and poisons are getting into us whether or not we want to. The process that she discovered, Although it's needed, it just seems like we really have no way out of fixing all of the detriment that goes into our soil and other resources that we use and need everyday.
"What happens to these incredibly numerous...of forest and and orchard and cropland?" (pg 56).
As a little girl, I was constantly outside, playing in sandboxes, splashing in the mud when it was raining and digging in the dirt. I was never really aware of the importance of dirt and soil, although we're conditioned to know that bugs, insects, bacteria and fungi thrive in it. This quote bugged me because the soil we depend upon is becoming chemically distraught, killing off vital bacteria to us. We walk upon it, taking it for granted when we can't afford to anymore.
“The soil exists in a state of change, taking part in cycles that have no beginning and no end. New materials are constantly being contributed as rocks disintegrate, as organic matter decays and as nitrogen and other gases are brought down in rain from the skies” (54).
Carson wants to show how soil is a constant cycle, in which our food production depends on soil just as much as soil depends on life. Scientists have found that there is an incredible amount of life that makes up soil itself. If we are polluting our soil, there is so much more that is being harmed then what meets the eye. Without soil, plants get affected which results in the herbivores, carnivores, and the rest of the ecosystem to be threatened. By adding chemicals to our soil we are doing so much more than polluting the ground, we are killing everything that populates it.
Building off the quote about how without soil we would have no plants or animals, Carson also states that it is equally important that the soils "very origins and the maintenance of its true nature being intimately related to living plants and animals." (53). I knew how important soil was to the creation of plants and animals but I honestly have always felt it takes nothing but water to keep life running. It takes the wide range of diverse living things that have formed within the soil over eons its been around to keep soil alive. Soil also drives off nitrogen. If we take these key organisms and nitrogen out of the environment the soil and life depending on soil could be damaged.
"We know too little of the threads that bind the soil organisms to each other and to their world, and to the world above," (54).
The importance of soil is not commonly known. If we pollute the soil, it will cause a horrible, ongoing chain. If the chain starts and gets too far out of control, we may not ever be able to stop it. Soil is essential to plants, herbivores, carnivores, and many other life forms. Polluting it will only threaten each and every one of them and that needs to be realized before it's too late.
Without healthy soil, plant life would be nearly nonexistent. The quality of the soil determines what plants and nutrients are available in certain regions. If not all of these parts of the soil were present, the soil would not be as healthy and able to support as much life. Healthy soil is needed for a healthy life and without this process and parts of soil, life would not be the same.
"The soil exists in a state of constant change, taking part in cycles that have no beginning and no end." (53)
In this passage it shows how the soil is always changing and going through cycles that have no beginning and no end. This means that new materials and substances are being created. There is a lot of recycled material due to the gases that are brought down in rain and from the mist of fog in the sky. This also means that some materials are being taken away as well. It helps the ecosystem fulfill its process when the material is in a constant process and is recycling its own material.
in response to Meaghan
i completely agree that one change in the soil will create an ongoing chain that could never stop. Soil is sometimes something we dont think about how it really affects plant and animal life but i really does. if we start thinking about that, we could potentially save many plants and animal habitats.
In response to Jill, it is weird to think that something we've had in our life and has been a necessity to a lot of farming, and just the fact that its all around us, is being messed with. Apart of me wants to blame the mass testing of different chemicals and the so called beneficial tehcnological advances in research towards killing off insects and other types of organisms. Our nature is growing up too fast, as cheesy as that sounds
In response to Syd's quote and comment, I think she raises a really crucial point that the soil is constantly going through changes, that is, new substances are constantly being added and subtracted. At this point, it is up to us to make sure that the materials going into the soil will not contaminate it or alter its ongoing cycle.
"without soil, land plants as we know them could not grow, and without plants no animals could survive" (53).
Through our soil lab I knew that soil was important, but throughout this chapter I was surprised at how many different components, how difficult soil was to actually create, and how I even once thought of soil as simple and boring, but in fact how important it is to everything else. Soil is actually fundamental to life everywhere on Earth. If too many harsh pollutants get into our soil, then the health of everything else is directly affected.
"Arsenic provides a classic case of the virtually permanent poisoning of the soil" (58). Chemicals that we use everyday have long term effects on the earth. Adding chemicals to the dirt will effect plants directly, then the animals and humans that eat those plants. Many things will be consuming the arsenic because of how the food chain works. Digesting arsenic is very dangerous, especially for people. The soil that plants grow in could make perfectly good food toxic.
"...the total weight of this host bacteria in the top foot of a single acre of fertile soil may be as much as 30 ponds." (54)
I find this very interesting, when I think soil I think of rocks and dirt, obviously there are some bugs, well lots of bugs. I never would have thought that there would be so much bacteria in soil as there would be in that amount of ponds. In ponds I see stuff moving everywhere. My past experiences also lead me to believe that 30 ponds would contain more bacteria than 1 acre of 1 foot top soil. The reason why I would think that is because in biology I remember looking at pond water and there were so many things and bacteria that I could see, and then this year when we took dirt samples and looked at them I could only find a couple of bugs, there was not as much movement as the pond water had.
IN response to Graham's comment which i agree with because I also never really realized how hard and long of a process it took to create soil. Right not our society is using to much of it and polluting to much for the soil to replenish itself. Soil is the base of everything besides water. With out soil creating nutrients for the plants there would be no food chain, there would be nothing for the cows to eat and then on and on up the food chain.
"Without soil, land plants as we know them could not grow, and without plants no animals could survive" (53).
All Americans owe our survival to soil. Native Americans exploited the many uses of soil, mainly to grow crops to eat. Had the Native Americans not introduced the art of growing native crops to the first foreigners to set foot on American soil, the foreign British explorers may not have survived without the availability of a constant food source. Soil helped us build the American economy as we know it today by giving the first farmers an stable job. We owe our country as we know it today to the soil we stand upon.
In response to Jess,
Where chemicals are so unnatural and foreign to the environment of soil, it shocks me too how humans can dump such a vast amount of chemicals into the soil everyday so carelessly. We owe our lives to the soil we pollute every day, yet we take no care of it at all. By treating our soil poorly, we treat our plants poorly, as well as the animals that eat the plants. So indirectly, we are harming ourselves by harming the soil and its ecosystem.
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