Science At the Wheel: Driving into the Future of the Environmental Movement

2380 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Industrial revolution and its impact

Science At the Wheel: Driving into the Future of the Environmental Movement

Science has been able to approximate that the human race has existed for only 400,000 years on this 4.56 billion year old planet. Yet in its brief history humanity has had a far greater impact than any other species. Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, the rate and complexity of this impact has only increased. With such profound influence on our environment must come greater responsibility. Scientists, as the leading explorers in this new age of technology, share an important part of this responsibility. Their innovations have shaped the world to be what it is today, and it is their research that will be the foundation for tomorrow. Science provides the vehicle that will drive society into the future. Science explores, observes, and explains the world around us. It both finds and attempts to solve problems with the ultimate goal of benefiting society. The health of the environment is increasingly associated with the well-being of society. Therefore, the problems of industrial and agricultural pollution have to be a priority for the scientist. Science has played a major role in creating this modern problem and therefore must now take the lead in solving it.

Having identified the pollution problem initially, scientists more fully understand the extent and severity of this problem. The correlation between cancer and pesticides was identified and continues to be studied by biologists and physicians. It is chemists who have been called to classify the 20,000 Superfund sites and to report on toxic chemicals seeping into homes, schools, and drinking water. Scientists, in general, have studied and stressed the importance of ecosystem diversity...

... middle of paper ...

....

Rifkin, Jeremy. "Apocalypse When?" New Scientist. 31 October 1998.

Safina, Carl. "To Save the Earth, Scientists Should Join Policy Debates." The Chronicle of Higher Education. 6 November 1998: A80.

Satchell, Michael and Betsy Carpenter. "The Disaster That Wasn't." US News and World Report 18 September 1989: 60-69.

Soloman, Wendy. "Horsehead subpoenas termed typical tactic." Allentown Morning Call, March 31, 1998.

Van Dyne, Larry. "Thank God for the Country Boys; Ten Miles From the White House, Government Scientists Are Working to Bring You a Greener Lawn, Juicier Peaches, Leaner Pork, and Other Wonders." Washingtonian. August 1992.

Verrengia, Joseph. "Weapons against pollution? Poplar trees drink up toxins." Seattle Times. (September 30, 1998) http://www.seattletimes.com/news/nation-world/ntml98/altopopl 093098.html. Seattle Times webpage.

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Rachel Carson's 'Silent Springs'

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    The rhetorical occasion of this excerpt is to inform others about the dangers of chemicals on earth’s vegetation and animal life.

    Read More

  • The Heritage Foundation

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ehrlich, P. R., & Ehrlich, A. H. (1996). Betrayal of science and reason: How anti-environmental rhetoric threatens our future. Washington, D.C: Island Press.

    Read More

  • Healthcare for the Amish and Mennonite Culture

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    Naka, T. (2010). Faith At Work: Mennonite Beliefs and Occupations. Ethnology: An International Journal of Cultural and Social Anthropology 47. Retrieved January 27, 2014 from http://ethnology.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/Ethnology/article/view/6040/6217

    Read More

  • The Magnificence Of Nature In The Silent Spring, By Rachel Carson

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author describes each chapter with a surreal narration. It begins with “A Fable for Tomorrow”, which starkly declares a bleak future of every U.S village if they erred to use pesticides. “The Obligation to Endure” describes the lack of public awareness and how it would become grievous. She justly reasons that if the public might suffer from long-term misfortunes due to insecticides usage, they have a right to know the facts. Felicitous “Elixirs of Death” describes the nature of insecticides in three apt words. Chemical structures of common biocides are explained in an uncomplicated fashion. A series of three successive chapters is dedicated to Earth and its components. These chapters include the closely inter-connected ecological cycles, existing in the water, mantle and soil horizons. Pesticide dispersal in soil followed by its access into the ground water table and the waterways is an inconceivable process. The book promulgates the escape of biocides from their place of application, and their integration into natural bodies. All her chapters thereafter revolve around the various short-term and long-term effects of biocides on the biosphere. Rachel Carson had stated countless dire cases wherein complete ecosystems faced annihilation. The influx of detrimental chemicals extended their reach over animals and plants, and were causing human mortalities as well. Humans are a part of

    Read More

  • The Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    Their interpretation of the bible as well as their practices have clearly divided them from mainstream Christianity, even though they believe they have the true Christian religion. Whether the Jehovah’s Witnesses are legit in the eyes of other Christians may be questionable, with 239 Lands where Jehovah’s Witnesses worship, 8,201,545 Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, 9,499,933 Free home Bible courses conducted, 19,950,019 Attendance at the annual Memorial of Christ’s death, and 115,416 Congregations, their reach is not.

    Read More

  • The Old Order Amish

    1451 Words  | 3 Pages

    Picture this, in the late sixteenth century a small group of individuals led by Jakob Ammann broke away from the Swiss Mennonites (as stated in Amish 101 - Amish Beliefs, Culture & Lifestyle, By Albrecht Powell) and traveled thousands of miles from Europe to America to start their own communities and practice their own religion. Sounds kind of scary moving that far away from home, but that small group of Anabaptist's was more than ready for the long journey that awaited them. The reason they broke away was mainly because of the lack of punishment also known as shunning, this is when a member is disowned by the family and the members in the community because of extreme disobedience. This small group is now known worldwide by 'The Amish'.

    Read More

  • Endocrine Disruptors

    1741 Words  | 4 Pages

    Evidence provided to support these claims of human and wildlife harm is largely from laboratory studies in which large doses are fed to test animals, usually rats or mice, and field studies of wildlife species that have been exposed to the chemicals mentioned above. In laboratory studies, high doses are required to give weak hormone activity. These doses are not likely to be encountered in the environment. However the process of bioaccumulation can result in top-level predators such as humans to have contaminants at levels many million times greater than the environmental background levels (Guilette 1994). In field studies, toxicity caused by endocrine disruption has been associated with the presence of certain pollutants. Findings from such studies include: reproductive disruption in starfish due to PCBs, bird eggshell thinning due to DDT, reproductive failure in mink, small penises in alligators due to DDT and dicofol (Guillette 1994, Colburn et al 1996). In addition, a variety of reproductive problems in many other species are claimed to be associated with environmental contamination although the specific causative agents have not been determined. One recent discovery that complicates the situation is that there are many naturally occurring "phytoestrogens", or chemicals of plant origin that exhibit weak estrogenic properties.

    Read More

  • Jehovah's Witnesses

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    White, Timothy, A People For His Name; The History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation. New York: Vantage Press, 1967. Print

    Read More

  • Organic vs. Conventional Foods

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Pesticides." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 18 July 2005. Web. 20 May 2011. .

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    1658 Words  | 4 Pages

    The puzzling tragedy that is Hamlet will forever be speculated, which is why it has attracted such attention and praise. The madness in which Hamlet lives draws decisions of polarizing weight. Stay righteous and live out your life with your father’s killer? Or do you slay him and suffer before god and the law? It bears moments of wisdom, followed by inexplicable actions and Vis versa. One moment you find the protagonist staring at his girlfriend with his pants at his ankles, the next you find him contemplating the value of life. It’s hard to determine what the message behind the wildcard character that Hamlet is. William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet” unravels opposing subjects, superstition instead of righteousness, private revenge or public revenge; it portrays the contradictions emerging in the religious revival of the Renaissance as “Christian humanism” was taking form in Western Europe. An aspect of the play reveals and mocks the hypocrisy of the kingdoms as they exert authority and pose as the ideal of religion. The king is a murderer who prays to god without belief. The one who attempts to remain righteous is an outcast amongst his kingdom. The biggest speculation is drawn on the rectitude of revenge. Does Hamlet have the right to kill his uncle? If so, does Laertes then have the right to kill Hamlet? Is Fortinbras the only exception of just revenge when he is motivated by honor, while the others rage over personal revenge? In the wake of these quarrels, the most evident and obvious Christian Humanist belief is held true...evil never wins. The punishment of those who died in Hamlet is virtuous and deserving. Those who stooped to treachery suffered the consequence.

    Read More

  • We Must Live A More Sustainable Life

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although more people are aware of the impacts we have on our environment, there are still people that choose to ignore scientific evidence, or do not fully understand the consequences. Further education and research are critical components in an effort to become more sustainable. Fortunately, younger generations are learning about the need to address environmental issues so that changes can be made to ensure our way of life is sustainable.

    Read More

  • We Must Protect Our Environment

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to World WildLife Fund, many ecosystems around the world are being destroyed, eliminating many plant and animal species that inhabit them (“Pollution”).

    Read More

  • Humans Destroying the Delicate Balance of Nature in Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this introduction part of the book, “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson, the author describes the destruction of the delicate balance of nature by human interference, especially by the wholesale use of insecticides. She carefully explains what is the balance of nature and how it is maintained naturally. Further, she informs the reader of the ways chemical poisons upset that balance and thereby kill life.

    Read More

  • Exemplification Essay: Why The World Is Doomed

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every day when looking out a window, people see a beautiful earth. The earth is intriguing, but hinges on a delicate balance. Many natural resources keep the grass green and the sky blue. Man has made quite an impression on our world, and has transformed the earth's resources into tools to make life easy. However, mans' manipulation on earth has become detrimental to the health of our planet and the safety of mankind. Through the use and production of resources such as oil and energy, man is gradually poisoning the earth. Pollution has become such a dilemma in society; there is no real control or a feasible solution to society's recklessness. Without complete change, our system will collapse. The earth will eventually retaliate with disaster, or corporate control of our economy will cause hysteria and depression. Evaluation of the consequences and repercussion of worldwide pollution, may give people a better idea of what the future holds.

    Read More

  • Pesticides

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pesticides are contaminating the Earth’s water supplies. There are seventeen pesticides found in twenty-three state’s water supplies right now. Scientists at Cornell University conclude that 99% of pesticides miss the intended source and find their way into the water, air and soil. Most of the pollution isn’t strong enough to create an immediate impact on humans so the wildlife is the primary target to these contaminates. Animals such as the European Starling birds are constantly being tested and found that they are greatly affected both behaviorally and psychologically.

    Read More

More about Science At the Wheel: Driving into the Future of the Environmental Movement

Open Document