Carson Reflection

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For many individuals, living in a clean environment with no pollution or hazards is something the mind can only imagine. It is very sad to only think that the earth could be a place of clean air, beautiful flowers, animals of all species, and healthy humans.  I enjoyed how Carson described a beautiful place that eventually disappears. It is understandable that people question why terrible things are happening to the environment, but do they actually comprehend that it is the people causing such harmful effects?

Carson discusses a very important hazard to the environment that “has crept upon us almost unnoticed” which is chemical pollution (152).  People feel that with the use of pesticides to keep down weeds or the use of insecticides is harmless. Carson mentions that there are five hundred chemicals produced each year which are used here in the U.S. Does this sound crazy? I think it does, and to think of the harsh chemicals that plant, animals, and humans are exposed to. No wonder there are so many different causes of cancer, especially in the foods we eat. We are not safe from these chemicals. I liked how Carson mentions that the chemicals “should not be called “insecticides” but “biocides” (155). That is exactly what chemicals are doing to the environment, slowly killing it off.

There are people who are trying to make a difference and make all individuals see the harm being done. Carson mentions that “we train ecologists in our universities and even employ them in our governmental agencies” (159). Carson is right, there is information out there, but who really is listening? I agree with Carson, that there is little awareness of the truth behind chemical use.  I liked that Carson feels “the sugar coating of unpalatable facts” needs to come to an end (160). If we do not start showing what really is happening with real time footage or examples, people are not going to grasp the harm occurring to the environment with the use of these hazardous chemicals. Although, if people were to see the TRUE facts, would they change their way of life?