Rachel Carson
by Jal Vic Cabral MojicaHave you heard about the author who tried so hard to save animals and probably saved the
world? Rachel Carson was that author. She wrote the book Silent Spring about how insecticides were killing insects and birds.
Scientists thought the sprays were only "harmful” to insects that were ruining plants and food crops. But that was not true. The sprays killed the animals that ate the insects. The poisons were entering the natural food chain without people knowing. When they sprayed it on plants, it stuck to the leaves even through heavy rains. When the leaves fell on to the ground in autumn and rotted, they become one with the earth, adding to the soil. Then earthworms digested the soil and many died. The ones that adapted and didn’t die of the poisoning were eaten by the birds and then the birds got poisoned and they died a horrible death.
How did Rachel Carson save the world? She had the courage to write the book and had proof about how she reached her conclusions. She saw that the food chain was disrupted by the poisoning. The significant loss of birds, a natural enemy of many insects, would cause an imbalance in the food chain. More insects would mean more diseases and crop loss. This would certainly affect our environment and our lives.
Without her, or people like her who risk their careers to protect the rest of us, the consequences would be extremely serious. The earth would be full of diseases and probably many species would die. Rachel Carson is a true heroine to me.
