Mother Nature Knows Better in Chemistry Essay

Each and every one of us has a responsibility to protect our environment. Being thinking beings, we have all that it takes to keep our surroundings free from abuse and misuse. All we really need is to know what we do right and which actions we do wrongly to help lessen the effects of modernism to our planet. The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings (Carson 420). Mother Nature is wise. Although all creatures have been given the proper habitats and basic needs to live, earth also provided organisms that would limit each species’ reproduction so that a healthy balance is acquired. This equilibrium has given peace on earth until man had learned to use his mind to alter his environment. The want for a better and comfortable life has always been man’s weakness. This has been the reason why history shows that different cultures have tried to get the best of other worlds into their own lands. Plants and animals have been imported by different countries to adapt these creatures to another culture’s different needs. However, this has destroyed the balance that nature had intended and has resulted to negative effects such as the transportation of unneeded microorganisms. Carson explains that each organism has counter creatures and aspects in its natural habitat that limit its population to the number that is needed to balance the environment it belongs to. Whenever an organism is transported to another place, there is no guarantee that the new habitat will be able to control its population. This, therefore, can become a threat to its new environment in the form of pests or even epidemics. Another reason for imbalance is the farming system that has been developed. When more than the normal quantity of crops are planted in just one place, the insects that are attracted to these also grow in abundance. Therefore, upsetting the natural balance of the environment causes problems like pestilence. Urban lifestyle has also contributed to the problems of insect infestation. In some countries, the natural habitat has been interrupted by the build up of too many houses (and slums) in just a particular piece of land. Irresponsible disposal of garbage and unhealthy habits also give rise to the problem of mosquitoes and other pests. Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) has been the first synthetic pesticide that was ever invented to control infestation. Carson believes that this chemical and the other man-made pesticides leave particles on the areas that have been treated and this harms the other parts of the environment. This has become the premise for the invention of chemicals that will counter attack the problems of insects. The term â€Å"chemical† is defined by the Oxford Dictionary noun a distinct compound or substance, especially one which has been artificially prepared or purified. Being man-made, it can destroy the balance of nature. Modern society has a wide inventory of many chemicals that can be harmful to the environment. Some of these such as hair sprays, cleaning aids, smoke from cigarettes and cars, etc. do not seem harmful but researcher say otherwise. DDT has even been ascribed as a factor that leads to cancer. Ronald Bailey (427), an environmental reporter, believes that DDT has been falsely accused of being a carcinogen because research cannot prove that it really does cause cancer. However, environmentalists like Rachel Carson have ignorantly used this premise to increase awareness for our planet. Whether or not DDT is a carcinogen, it is just one of the synthetic materials that have come to dominate human living. Thousands of other inventions using chemicals have brought forth many problems that are not just harmful but also irreversible. Global warming, based on Encyclopaedia Britannica, is an increase in global average surface temperature resulting from an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide (caused by natural emissions of plants and combustion from carbon-containing materials), methane (produced industrially by the destructive distillation of bituminous coal in the manufacture of coal gas), and certain other trace gases in the atmosphere. Industrial emissions and smoke belching automobiles are being blamed for this phenomenon. This has caused a lot of controversy because it means that the earth is becoming too warm for human existence. However, according to climate scientists, human activities have very little effect on the climate, compared to many other factors, from volcanoes to clouds. (Sowell) Global warming is just an issue being used by other scientists to get grants for their studies. These researchers claim that with or without man’s inventions, nature has its own causes of global temperature changes. The truth in the many arguments about what civilization has done to the environment is hard to decipher for common students. However, whether or not pesticides are carcinogens and even if global-warming is a doubtful issue, our environment is a very important place that all must protect from abuse and misuse. Pesticides may not be immediately fatal for humans but to comply with universal laws, there is a need to use these in moderation. Anything overdone can lead to serious consequences such as food poisoning and allergies. Industrial wastes, even if they apparently do not really affect global-warming, can still cause pollution that leads to many health issues. The earth is the only home for us human beings. It is where we get our food and breathe the air that we need to survive. It provides us with the shelter we need to protect ourselves from the harsh realities of our own habitat. We need to find ways to start ensuring the safety of our environment against man’s drive to improve lives by ignoring possible negative consequences. The European nations are a model right now for environmental protection. Car companies need to recall their older less-functional models so that these can be recycled into new products for their later models. Other electronic gadgets like personal computers and mobile telephones are also being eyed for this project. Forced to recover value from their discarded consumer goods, companies will have a strong incentive to design the toxics out of their products and to make them easier to disassemble and remanufacture (Greider 3). As students, there are many ways that we can also help protect the environment. Proper garbage disposal not only makes places look neat but also drive away the possibility of diseases that are brought by the insects that get attracted to garbage. Maintaining electrical and mechanical gadgets according to manufacturer’s advice also ensures that these are performing safely instead of emitting probable poisonous discharges. Reporting to authorities regarding the incidences of environmental abuse or misuse can also bring solutions to possible harmful situations. It is often said that the roots of environmental destruction lie in treating natural resources as â€Å"free† and not giving them â€Å"value. ’ (Shiva 443) Each little creature on earth serves a purpose for Mother Nature in balancing our environment. It may be hard to understand the impact of our small actions but putting value to the environment can make big changes that can only be seen collectively in the future. We have our own place in this natural balance and it is our responsibility to find the ways to maintain this balance. Works Cited Carson, Rachel. â€Å"The Obligation To Endure. † The Informed Argument. Place Published: Publisher, year. â€Å"Chemical. † The Oxford English Dictionary. 23 May 2007 . â€Å"Global Warming. † Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 23 May 2007 < http://www. search. eb. com/eb/article-9037044>. Greider, William. â€Å"Apollo Now. † The Nation. 02 Jan. 2006. 23 May 2007 < http://www. thenation. com/doc/20060102/greider/3>. Shiva, Vandana. â€Å"Values Beyond Price. † The Informed Argument. Place Published: Publisher, year. Sowell, Thomas. â€Å"Global-Warming Swindle. † National Review Online. 15 March 2007. 23 May 2007 .