tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post711674484611401716..comments2024-03-18T19:05:39.072-07:00Comments on Morphosis: On "Silent Spring"s SilencesAdam Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15803399373213872690noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-89067777016328833282021-03-25T00:28:08.061-07:002021-03-25T00:28:08.061-07:00I take the force of this point. DDT-resistant mosq...I take the force of this point. DDT-resistant mosquitoes are clearly a problem, though they are not the majority of the insect: "studies of malaria-vector mosquitoes in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa found susceptibility to 4% DDT (WHO's susceptibility standard), in 63% of the samples, compared to the average of 87% in the same species caught in the open." Moreover, the summary of scientific papers on Wikipedia suggest: "DDT can still be effective against resistant mosquitoes and the avoidance of DDT-sprayed walls by mosquitoes is an additional benefit of the chemical. For example, a 2007 study reported that resistant mosquitoes avoided treated huts. The researchers argued that DDT was the best pesticide for use in IRS (even though it did not afford the most protection from mosquitoes out of the three test chemicals) because the other pesticides worked primarily by killing or irritating mosquitoes – encouraging the development of resistance."<br /><br />But I have amended the post to direct readers to your comment here.Adam Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15803399373213872690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-34160028185590526662020-05-16T02:35:15.604-07:002020-05-16T02:35:15.604-07:00we cannot discuss the above. Anthonywe cannot discuss the above. AnthonyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862704892395272920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-5040050670708719812020-05-16T02:34:41.001-07:002020-05-16T02:34:41.001-07:00Sorry Professor we cannot discuss the a biome if y...Sorry Professor we cannot discuss the a biome if you don't know who I am.<br />Anthony StokoeAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862704892395272920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-74692853553358354192020-05-14T15:56:28.726-07:002020-05-14T15:56:28.726-07:00Not mentioning the Native American does not mean n...Not mentioning the Native American does not mean necessarily that it is overlooked by Carson. The book is about the then modern day use of chemicals.<br />`The book is not a 'hippy' bible and acknowledges that chemicals can be a benefit. The preface offers an ideal vision but it is there to make people think. It is not a road map for the future life of the entire planet. Would it have been better or still be better now to let chemical companies have there own way. Think of Bhopal. There have it be checks and balances. The book is not meant to be lesson on American history. I look forward to a further discussion next year.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862704892395272920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-67559768377358434982020-03-15T08:07:24.631-07:002020-03-15T08:07:24.631-07:00Not everyone sees the banning of DDT as an unallow...<i>Not everyone sees the banning of DDT as an unallowed good, mind</i><br /><br />You are, unfortunately, repeating an old anti-environmentalist canard. DDT has only ever been banned for purposes of protecting commercial crops; it has remained available for purposes of anti-mosquito control, and there are several countries that continue to use it.<br /><br />One of the problems is that widespread use of DDT, especially in agriculture, contributed to the rise of DDT-resistant mosquitoes, so that it became less effective in anti-malarial campaigns. This article suggests that the ban on agricultural use of DDT probably came to late to prevent significant resistance.<br />http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~mpalmer/stuff/DDT-myth.pdfPeter Erwinhttps://www.mpe.mpg.de/~erwin/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-62018630649348330492020-03-13T06:59:43.049-07:002020-03-13T06:59:43.049-07:00I'm not quite able to reconcile your general a...I'm not quite able to reconcile your general anti-pastoral criticism with your specific criticism of it. Your specific criticism includes the observation that Carson's pastoral is a false one since it only goes back to the early settlers, excluding the American Indians whom they displaced. Your general criticism is that pining for fewer (or no) people is misguided because the "mess" of all those people is life. If that's so (and I'm not arguing the point), then the displacement of Indians by European settlers is also life. It could've been handled differently, of course, but people grow, move, expand, and I can't think of another likely outcome.<br /><br />What if Rachel Jr. wrote SILENT SUMMER, longing for the good old pre-Global-Warming days?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13312160598500487602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-87446664617043518352020-03-12T09:38:13.239-07:002020-03-12T09:38:13.239-07:00a hymn to spacious rural environments uncontaminat...<i>a hymn to spacious rural environments uncontaminated by, well, by inhabitants. Think how low-density the populations of Middle Earth are! Much quieter than the real world</i><br /><br />This argument (and most of this post) strikes me as perversely and disjointedly contrarian. Apart from anything else, both Carson and the Tolkien of the Shire were (as you say) writing in a pastoral, or bucolic, mode - they celebrate tamed landscapes, populated worlds made and sustained by people. Plenty of people have followed Lawrence in celebrating wilderness, wasteland and emptiness, but JRRT & RC aren't two of them. The Shire is low on machines, but it's positively groaning with people, all of whom know your business and most of whom knew your Dad; empty - or silent - is not how Frodo would characterise Hobbiton.<br /><br />As for Carson, I'm as sensitive to country/city oppositions as the next person, but I can't see any here. I can't see why you'd take her to task for not writing about urban foxes when she's writing about agriculture.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009879034507926661noreply@blogger.com