Chapter 1: A Fable for TomorrowIn the first chapter of her book, Carson introduces her point through a short imaginary story of a "town in the heart of America". She describes this town as full of life, with blooming flowers, numerous plants and animals and creates a peaceful and relaxed image in her audiences mind. She uses this illustration as a form of a "before", emphasizing the serenity of undisturbed nature. Soon after, Carson takes on a dark turn and describes a sense of decay and an eradication of life that was once abundant in this town. She describes how the animals have disappeared and how the land that used to be green and painted with the colors of life have faded and dried into a dull and lifeless dirt. Her exigency is revealed when she contrasts this image resembling an "after" with that of the before and clearly states that this death and decay was at the hands of the human race. In telling the story of how humans have destroyed much of the beautiful nature that once thrived in the land we now live in, Carson places a sense of responsibility on her audience to encourage them to stay informed about the environmental issues the world is facing and to take action to reverse and prevent the horrors she presented.
|
Chapter 2: The Obligation to EndureIn this chapter, Carson emphasizes her point that the work and nature of humans have greatly affected the environment in a largely negative way. She discusses the interactions that all living organisms have with their environment and how one affects the other. She also emphasizes how throughout the known scientific history, environment has always affected the organism but this time around, it's the humans who are affecting the environment. She provides the scientific detail of how life forms adapt to their surrounding environment but the rate at which humans are destroying the environment is far too fast for organisms to adjust to. This is especially true in that organisms evolve as a population, not as an individual and when their environment is changing rapidly, there is no way for the population to evolve and it ends up going extinct. one way that humans have damaged the environment is through the contamination of large sources of life. Lethal chemicals contaminate our water, our land and even the air that we breathe. Carson places great emphasis on the steps we have taken that have greatly altered the mechanics of nature. From the creation of biocides such as DDT to the development of atomic bombs, we have neared total destruction of all life on earth. Our microscopic developments that were intended to benefit the human race has resulted in large environmental and genetic impacts that threaten the world we live in.
|
Chapter 3: Elixirs of DeathIn the third chapter of her book, Carson reveals the details of how exposure to dangerous chemicals can and have harmed our environment. She points out that it is in that moment of time that humans have been first ever exposed to such harmful substances for all of their life.Though the development of pesticides have barely been in progress for less than 20 years around 1962, contamination from the chemicals have been found everywhere. Carson informs her readers that insects were the guinea pigs for war experiments. Chemicals were tested on them to test the effectiveness of chemicals that were to be used in WWII and as technology and science advanced, the chemicals became much more lethal due to the atomic and molecular tampering of man-kind. The effects of these chemicals have been greatly underestimated, believed to only serve the purpose they were made for when in reality they have the power to destroy life and its natural balance. Carson describes the man-made chemicals such as DDT which have been proven to be incredibly deadly. She states that the intake of these chemicals, whether through skin contact or through respiration, results in the chemicals being stored in organisms and when they mix with other chemicals, they show much more dangerous effects. Most contamination's of chemicals in organisms even have the power to affect the organism genetically and can lead to cancerous results.
|
Chapter 4: Surface Waters and Underground SeasIn this chapter, Carson discusses the specific contamination of water. As water makes up 71% of the earth's surface and is connected in various ways, it is not hard to believe that the contamination of one body of water contaminates all.
This pollution results from radioactive wastes, chemical wastes, and run-off which gets into our water sources. Some of this pollution goes unnoticed to the common eye but as soon as major effects start to show people realize the problem. The water is so deeply contaminated by numerous chemicals that it easily travels from one water source to the next, being slowly diluted but still causing dangerous problems. One example she gives of how water contamination affects all is how a plant located in Colorado was able to contaminate farm wells, miles away, with 2, 4-D. What's more absurd is that this lethal chemical was formed from the mixture of other chemicals, showing how the carelessness of humans with nature and their environment can lead to toxic and dangerous accidents. Furthermore, Carson also provides examples of how deadly the contamination of water is. She does this by giving examples such as the findings of dead creatures in highly contaminated bodies of water. She claims that humans must stop their actions and consider the cycle of life and how everything is all connected, if water resources are made unusable and uninhabitable, then the organisms it supports will all die. |
Chapter 5: Realms of the SoilIn this chapter, Carson discusses the impact that the contamination of soil has on the environment as a whole and how that in turn affects the soil. She describes the life of soil and the organisms that make it a main building block in the environment. She talks about how the organisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae and more are what helps the cycle of life move. They enrich the soil with numerous minerals, fix nitrogen, and play an important role in decomposition which all gives rise to the recycling of matter and the creation of new life. The insects found in soil such as earthworms also help create the richness in soil that helps to support all life. While this cycle has been maintained throughout the history of life on earth, it has been disrupted by the spread and contamination of chemicals. The chemicals that are used in pesticides not only kill the insects it targets but also other organisms. The chemicals affect all forms of life it touches and when pesticides are used on insects in farms, it travels down to the soil and affects the organisms and microorganisms there too. As humans continue to poison the life around them, they create a new and rapid cycle of destruction.
|