Environmental Pollution by Pesticides

The Impact of Pesticides on the Environment

The author, Rachel Carson, having been inspired by his professional career working with the U.S. Wildlife and Fish Department decided to put the focus on addressing the problems of pesticides. Following the rising enthusiasm for pesticides from chemical companies and the public, Carson wrote the book called Salient Spring to empower the public about the environment. The main argument throughout the book is to effectively attend to pesticide problem. The book also argued that the huge introduction of chemicals mainly from pesticides made the earth unfit for human existence. In her book, Carson wanted to raise awareness on pollution of the environment since the problem of pollution was rampant. She argued that environmental problems must end soon before it results to devastating effects.

The Harmful Effects of Pesticides on Living Organisms

Carson writes the book as a revolutionary work of the environmental sector through her quest to identify the potentially harmful effects of pesticides. Her concentration was mainly on pesticides such as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) since it was the major cause of pollution in the environment. DDT was used to reduce the population of insects and was administered through aerial spraying. The purpose of the book was to inform or warn the public against the use of pesticides. The book gathered expert opinions regarding the dangers associated with the use of harmful pesticides. During that period most chemicals were introduced to the environment by insecticides that were becoming deadlier each day. This is because the specialist emphasized the effective performance of the insecticides while environmental pollution was none of their concerns. Arsenicals were used in the manufacture of insecticides, and since they were composed of inorganic chemicals, they had toxicological problems. The harmful constituents in pesticides included organophosphates and chlorinated hydrocarbons which broadly carried environmental problems. The two elements were linked to negative impacts such as human nervous disorders and deaths of fish and bird.

The Industrial Dumping and Agricultural Pollution

Another major source of environmental pollution of that time was the industrial dumping of waste into rivers. Most of these wastes contained harmful content that would have dangerous effects on aquatic life. Industrial and individual dumping was done both knowingly and unknowingly. Carson considered the use of chemicals by farmers on their fields for agriculture since this chemicals could finally find their way to human or lead to significant effects on the environment. These include herbicides and weed killers that tend to wash into rivers and streams during rainy seasons. She goes ahead to use an example that illustrates how a certain beautiful place turned out to be ugly and dead. The ugliness was as a result of “the strange blight that crept over the area” and brought massive destruction on everything in the environment.

Solutions to Reduce Environmental Pollution

Carson went ahead to persuade farmers to adopt better methods to reduce environmental pollution through the use of natural predators to eliminate pest problems. Natural predators are non-toxic and can be a permanent solution since with pesticides the pest can become immune to its effects.

The Interconnectedness of Living Organisms and the Environment

Besides the aspects of contaminations, Carson described an overarching argument regarding the existing relationship between the environment and man. The relationship resulted in the growth of “deep ecology” movement that spearheaded the interconnectedness of living organisms and environment. She accomplishes this through the introductory paragraphs where silence rules the world after the massive destruction of the environment by pesticides. She argues that in an interconnected world the ability of man to change the environment must be accompanied with caution to avoid interference of the systems.

The Detrimental Effects of Pesticides and the Responsibility of Chemical Industries

The author managed to express her arguments through active persuasive writing comprehensively. Most of her arguments were supported with adequate researched data that proved that indeed chemical content in pesticides was harmful to living organisms. Throughout the book, her main arguments were the unexamined and uncontrolled pesticide use was constantly harming the organisms. As mentioned above, Carson managed to document all detrimental effects of pesticides on the environment. The text filed several accusations against chemical industries since they are the producers of toxic substances.

The Structure and Authority of the Book

The author managed to organize her work very well in the book through chapters which captured the flow of the story very well. The book has a straightforward structure that allows ease comprehension in which all the sections of the book are effectively addressed for ease understanding. The book is authoritative, controlled, and clear based on its content.

An Effective Book for Raising Awareness

I believe this is the most effective book ever read as well as its content that spearheads awareness on the poisonous effects of pesticides. I would say the book is brilliantly written with the confident use of poetic devices that illuminates pages as you read. This is evident in the following statement “the sight and sound of drifting ribbons of waterfowl across an evening sky. ”Soil bacteria and fungi become a “chorde of minute but ceaselessly toiling creatures” (Carson). The author speaks about the amount of pesticides residues that have covered the U.S. drainage systems.

Works Cited

Carson, Rachel. “Silent Spring. 1962.”(2009).