The Destructive Use Of Pesticides In Silent Spring By Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson came out with her book “Silent Spring” in 1962. It brought huge recognition to the use of pesticides, chemicals, and insecticides. She describes, in detail, the harmful effects these products have on the environment. She explains that everything in the environment is connected and is affected by each other. Her book essentially launched an environmental movement. While each chapter of “Silent Spring” can have an essay done on it, I will try to summarize and analyze several aspects of her book myself. Below is my analysis of many aspects in her book. Not everything Rachel Carson wrote about was met with praise. Some people, even today, still feel Rachel was wrong on some issues. Many scientists do not take Rachel Carson seriously,

Aerial spraying of this, among other pesticides, began over small farms at first. With new technology, mainly planes, came a much wider use of these pesticides and they sprayed it everywhere in an almost careless, haphazard fashion. Of course, I seriously doubt the intention was malevolent. The spraying was done in an attempt to exterminate certain species of insects. Unfortunately, people and the sprayed environment had not prior knowledge and they had no way to protect themselves. Nearly everything and everyone was subjected to health risks without their consent. These health risks were considered acceptable in order to try and eliminate these insects. However, many of the insects that the spraying attempted to eliminate still thrive today. They build up a resistance to the pesticides and widespread spraying continues. The result is more environmental damage. What we need is not more spraying of chemicals, but an entirely new approach to controlling insect

Her book “Silent Spring” is a no holds barred, honest assertion that directly deals with the truth about how these substances affect our daily lives. She gives real-life scenarios and explains actual outcomes to the actions that we take. She challenged scientists, businesses and the government for either being too lax or producing false and misleading information to the general public. Most situations weren’t done out of malice, but rather total ignorance. She changed all that. She educated the world about the serious health concerns of these chemicals. Many people were totally unaware of the risks and some even make a profession out of dealing with these chemicals on a daily basis. Carson showed the direct correlation between the use of these substances and illness/death. She challenged to world to come up with new ways of pest control instead of using dangerous pesticides and