Once more Carson takes us one step further into how pesticides become a pervasive threat to our ecosystems. By spraying the land from the air, or applying pesticides to the field by tractor, the excess material will end up entering into the surface waters of our rivers, ponds, and lakes. The runoff from rainstorms will eventually carry the chemicals into the bodies of water nearby. The original dosage to the land may have been appropriately calculated but it can be magnified when there are multiple sources leading to the same lake or river.
Here too we see that magnification of the pesticide through the food web leads to the death of fish found within these waters. If the fish aren't killed immediately or migrate into a treated area they may discover that there is no insect life for them to feed upon. Carson points out that the loss of fish or their habitat can be an enormous economical loss for the businesses that support sport fishing, as well as, the fishermen who make their livelihoods from large scale commercial fishing to provide people with fish for their dinner tables. Just the fact that we are at the top of this particular food chain is also frightening. Once again we see the impact of Carson's book in the education of the public and the government's role in that endeavor. Today consumers are warned against eating certain types of fish or to limit their consumption due to the presence of pesticides or heavy metals such as mercury.
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The urgency of Carson’s appeal is further established in this chapter on the waters of the world. The dominant note of the chapter is voiced at its end. Scientists don’t know what the affects of all this poison will be in the future. They don’t have any way to measure what the chemicals are when they’ve passed through their primary use and have traveled through the water, mixing with other chemicals, to reach the ocean. They are seriously under funded in their efforts to find out and at the same time, chemical research money goes to the development of more and more toxic chemicals.
In this chapter, Carson explains to the public the dangers of the water. With all the pollution and poisoning being done to the water, the affects in the future could be too many to count. Poisons and chemicals that are added to rivers eventually move to the oceans, killing everything on the way. "It was inevitable that serious destruction of fishes would follow the widespread use of the new organic pesticides," (139). Humans have to be careful about what they put in the waters because it will soon come back to us with out consumption of different kinds of fish because of the pesticides they obtain.
The section of this chapter that really bothered me was the part discussing the United States Public Health Service’s opinion and response to the fish kills. The fact that they have to report the “disastrous proportions” of fish deaths as an index of water pollution should be a red flag that something has gone horribly wrong. The demand to respray is absolute inanity when the damage right there in front of their eyes.
In this chapter, Carson definitely went more in depth of the dangers of polluted water. On page 149, she writes "....these seafoods would disappear from our tables." Here, she is talking about the contamination of certain sea foods and how eventually things will get so bad humans won't be able to consume them anymore. It's sad to think that we are doing so much damage to the waters where some of us get our food. We need to start thinking about what were doing to the water life
In chapter 9, Carson describes the vicious cycle that occurs when dealing with pesticides. In 1954, salmon was thriving in one of the finest salmon streams in North America, Miramichi. Just a year later, pesticides changed this after trying to rid the spruce budworm. Carson describes the drastic change that occurred when putting unwanted chemicals into the ecosystem, in only “two days dead and dying fish, including many young salmon, were found along the banks of the stream” (131). People are just uniformed that these chemicals will have an effect on virtually everything.
We are so use to pollution and poison being a part of everyday life, we don't really take time to think about how scary and damaging it is. Like previously mentioned about not being able to eat a certain type of fish or not eating too much of a certain type of fish. The whole concept of a fish being too poisoned to be consumed is scary, and disturbing. On the news every once and awhile we will be warned not to eat this type of meat from that certain grocery store or to avoid this certain vegetable for a little while and we all brush it off like it is nothing, when really it should raise much more concern to the public's eye. We should be doing all we can to fix the issue, but instead we continue to worsen the problem.
"The inshore waters - the bays... these seafoods would disappear from our tables" (149). Lives of many fishes, mollusks and crustaceans cannot live where they used to anymore due to their habitats being ruined. These chemicals are poisoning the water, which can spread rapidly because of the lack of barriers holding the toxins in one place.
As I said in my last blog the absence of fish or birds from the ecosystem is devastating and I don't think people understand how indirectly we are affected from fish populations with high levels of mercury. As Carson explains it affects human fishing, which spirals to chains relying on the fishermen for fish in their stores and just keeps going.. Polllution is scary and I think people just need to be more consciously aware of their actions
As I said in my last blog the absence of fish or birds from the ecosystem is devastating and I don't think people understand how indirectly we are affected from fish populations with high levels of mercury. As Carson explains it affects human fishing, which spirals to chains relying on the fishermen for fish in their stores and just keeps going.. Polllution is scary and I think people just need to be more consciously aware of their actions
"Soon after the spraying...young salmon to eat." (131)
This quote epitomizes everything that Carson has been talking about. PESTICIDES ARE BAD. Spraying them is effecting to many of the ecosystems. She said it herself that before they were sprayed there was an abundance of fish, and life, and afterwards they all started dying off and it was not a safe place for the fish any long because introducing such a harmful chemical into their ecosystem is irregular for them and poisionous. It's like if we let CO2 flow through our houses. We're not supposed to be breathe in CO2 we breathe in oxygen. CO2 is human poison. We just don't sit down and realize this or really think about our actions or how they effect nature beyond ourselves.
Carson continues to add to her argument, furthering her urgency and concern about the way humans are going about life. It's reached a point where insecticides are threatening every body of water, even natural drinking water which is necessary for human life. With insecticides now infecting large bodies of water, all species of animals become endangered. Not only does this throw off the way of life and all food webs, it hurts our economies. The fishing economy gets hurt incredibly and many cultures, especially those who thrive on fish, are forced to find other alternatives.
"Soon after the...salmon to eat" (131).
The extreme amount of fish that died from the chemicals is another great reason why the chemicals shouldn't be used. What once started as a way to get rid of one type of pests turned into killing of many life forms including the fish that Carson discusses in this chapter. The spraying of the chemicals is just creating a domino reaction that is affecting all types of organisms.
I agree with Jackie Arnold. Whenever there's a food recall or safety alert on the news, my mother's automatic response is a short gasp and an "Oh my God…” - it almost has an implied, overdramatic “How can this be?” attached to it. Seeing her so surprised is just a reminder of how uneducated people can be about the impact we have, and how apparently easy it is to dismiss warnings without giving them much thought. These issues occur on a much larger scale than we think, and the sad part is, many people don't even think they could be directly linked to something we had control over. Despite the evidence staring some of us in the face, many consumers are happily left believing these errors are a fault of nature, and not contamination or disruption by humans. The measures taken to produce what we want, in the way we want, when we want it is astonishing. Unfortunately though, the fact that these measures are usually either well-hidden/covered up, or blatantly in our face and they still go unnoticed without anything being done about them is even more so astounding. People seem to only be concerned with their own immediate safety, and thus can sometimes forget the importance of safety for our world’s animals.
This chapter really reminded me of all we have been talking about in class regarding survival of the fittest. As Mrs. Rotelli said, if fish aren't killed immediately they may migrate into a treated area only to discover that there is no insect life for them to feed upon. However, a species is only left with three possible futures when their environmental conditions change; migrate, adapt, or become extinct. Many of these animals don't have the means to adapt to such harsh conditions, and as we see the use of these harmful pesticides continue to grow, soon there won't be many areas left for them to move to. As Carson explains how many species are killed instantly after the introduction of such chemicals, we begin to see how becoming extinct is the only option for them. It is up to us to advocate for these species, instead of hurting their habitats and decreasing their chances for survival. As we know, the loss of these animals usually amounts to economic losses for us as well, so it makes no sense to contribute to it. We need to get out of this downward spiral and start acting smarter.
I agree with John. It's going to be a chain reaction that effects fish, and than the humans because we are consuming the fish that are being infected by the pesticides. We're almost in the process of killing ourselves by making these pesticides which are getting fed to the fish and then to us. It's a vicious cycle.
I agree with Jackie... we really are much to use to pollution and poison in our every day lives that we don't stop and think about how dangerous it really is. More precautions need to be made to inform the public about all of these dangers and that is what Carson is continuing to do throughout the entire book.
Once again the ripple affect of one situation that leads to many others. Because of the spray being carried through the air, the excess ends up in waters. Because of this the sea animals are affected and if its not one species its the other weather its insects or something as big as fish. The food web really is the main threat because once one thing dies off, the rest are so susceptible and easily affected. Us humans are the root of this all, but it has a full circle ending by us having to avoid certain foods, because consuming them could cause us to be affected badly.
While I was reading chapter 9 it struck me and frustrated me when I saw that the fish were dieing because of the pesticides that were being sprayed. That goes to show that the pesticides kill a lot more than just the insects, they prevents other life than just insects also. If we did not have evidence that the pesticides affect other environments then I would understand why we would continue to spray them. Then I read about the organization of United States Public Health Service's. This organization has evidence that the water is polluted which is causing fish to die, the pesticides should stand out to them as a water pollutant.
I read Brooke's blog and found it interesting. She was talking about how some of the sea food we eat we may not be able to eat anymore. This goes to show how when something affects one thing that that one thing affects one more thing and on and on and on. Like a chain reaction. I can almost come to the conclusion that if some day some of the sea food we eat is taken off our menus then so will other meats we eat be taken off. Such as turkey and pigs. Turkey because they eat seeds and worms, along with pigs, and if that food they eat is poisoned by the pesticides then they will get sick. I don't know if it will affect enough of the animals for us not to be able eat them anymore but some day I think it will affect a wide variety of the food we consume.
To me, it seems that Carson has really illustrated a long cycle of how the pesticides will affect ecosystems. Of course by air, and other examples, but by explaining how the chemicals can transfer from land to water so quickly, is frighting and astonishing.As I've read it's struck me that Carson's ideas should be more of a handbook to how people should see pesticides and their effects. It just seems that so many people do not care. Like with this chapter, that the number of fish being killed is a simple "number" and that the lives of the animals are so small to the companies making money of these pesticides.
People might not notice right away when the population of bird starts to decrease, but once the fish start to go, people are immediately impacted. A food source for humans is being depleted, and what is left could have chemicals in their systems. Other events might not have gotten peoples attention but this should have. People's jobs are at stake and their food. Pollution just doesn't go away and people should start to realize this.
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