{"id":12967,"date":"2015-09-24t16:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-24t16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/throwback-thursday-silent-spring-and-its-impact\/"},"modified":"2015-09-24t16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24t16:00:00","slug":"throwback-thursday-silent-spring-and-its-impact-on-environmentalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/throwback-thursday-silent-spring-and-its-impact-on-environmentalism\/","title":{"rendered":"throwback thursday: ‘silent spring’ and its impact"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
rachel carson (u.s. fish & wildlife service)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n by katlyn manka<\/em><\/strong> “silent spring,\u201d the book that led to the eruption of environmentalism in the <\/span>\u201960s and resulted in a government ban of the pesticide<\/span> ddt<\/a>, is widely remembered as having a<\/span> deep impact on america<\/a>. even today, 53 years after its publication on sept. 27, 1962, rachel carson\u2019s \u201csilent spring\u201d remains a controversial work.<\/span><\/p>\n you might recognize \u201csilent spring\u201d by the attention it brought to the role of ddt in the thinning egg shells of osprey and other predatory birds including our national symbol, the<\/span> bald eagle<\/a>. i remember this because it was a topic brought up in the classroom many times over my years in school, but like many other students, i never knew that the issue was so well-known because of the impact of \u201csilent spring.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n according to carson\u2019s biography entry in epa journal<\/a>, \u201csilent spring\u201d has often been compared to \u201cuncle tom’s cabin\u201d because of \u201cthe uproar it caused and the influence it exerted.\u201d another journal article, aptly named \u201cthe birth of the epa<\/a>\u201d proceeds to credit carson\u2019s work as the catalyst that brought together the group of people that would become the environmental protection agency.<\/p>\n but the attention carson garnered through her publication of \u201csilent spring\u201d has not been entirely positive, and she has been hammered by criticism so severe that carson has been compared to adolf hitler<\/a>. this is because ddt was so effective at killing malaria-causing mosquitoes that cases of the illness rose significantly when countries stopped using the pesticide. such criticisms tend to ignore the fact that rachel carson was right<\/a> about the hazards of ddt because of its impact on the spread of malaria.<\/p>\n despite carson\u2019s efforts, heavy pesticide use in the u.s. is still a hot-button issue<\/a>, especially when it comes to the birds<\/a> and the bees<\/a>. her critics also blame the discontinuation of ddt for the emergence of new and possibly worse pesticides. one group of pesticides, called neonicotinoids<\/a>, is considered to be 6,000 times more toxic<\/a> than ddt despite working differently. even more alarming, countries banning these pesticides have found farmers now have difficulty repelling the pests that have returned to their crops<\/a>, forcing them to pull out yet another<\/a> harsh chemical.<\/p>\n carson\u2019s mission in fighting heavy pesticide use and disregard for the environment is still ongoing, though<\/span> many farmers now make use of available<\/span> alternatives<\/a> to pesticides. t<\/span>his issue is one reason why organic shopping has become so popular \u2014 revenue from organic food sales in the u.s. has grown from 3.4 billion in 1997, when the <\/span>organic trade association<\/a> began recording sales, to<\/span> $35.9 billion<\/a> in 2014, or a 956% increase (yes, really) in less than 20 years. and it’s also why ngos like the environmental working group, the nonprofit behind the <\/span>dirty dozen<\/a> and<\/span> clean fifteen<\/a> lists, <\/span>exist to educate consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “silent spring,\u201d the book that led to the eruption of environmentalism in the <\/span>\u201960s and resulted in a government ban of the pesticide<\/span> <\/a>ddt,<\/span> is widely remembered as having a<\/span> <\/a>deep impact on america. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9257,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4896,4909],"tags":[3429,3485,851],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-12967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-public-health","tag-environmental-activism","tag-pesticides","tag-silent-spring"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u200bplanet forward intern\/marymount university<\/em><\/p>\n