Rachel Carson and

‘Noisy Summer’

Daniel Yao

Junior Division

Historical Paper

Paper Length: 2485 Words

“Few books have altered the course of history—Silent Spring was one of them.” 1

-Brian Payton, American Author

Rachel Carson and ‘Noisy Summer’

DDT was used as the primary malaria vector control method in the twentieth century. The

publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962 and the following DDT ban in 1972 did

not cause the malaria resurgence in the latter twentieth century. Instead of tragically blaming

Carson for the resurgence, she should be recognized for triumphing over special interests to

trigger a new wave of environmental awareness.

Background

Malaria is a parasitic disease carried by mosquitoes belonging to the genus Anopheles. The

malaria parasite comes from the genus Plasmodium. The most prominent form of malaria, P. 2

falciparum, has been plaguing humanity for up to 300,000 years. Ancient manuscripts from 3

Mesopotamia, India, China, and Greece dating back as far as 3100 BCE all describe malaria. 4

1 Peyton, Brian. “Rachel Carson.” NASA, NASA, 13 Nov. 2002, earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Carson. 2 World Health Organization. “Do All Mosquitoes Transmit Malaria?” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 19 Apr. 2016, www.who.int/features/qa/10/en/. 3 Tanabe, Kazuyuki, et al. “Plasmodium Falciparum Accompanied the Human Expansion out of Africa.” NeuroImage, Academic Press, 17 June 2010, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982210006573. 4 Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Economics of Antimalarial Drugs. “A Brief History of Malaria.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215638/.

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Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is an organochlorine compound used as an insecticide

from 1939-1972 in the US. Synthesized in 1874 by Othmar Zeidler, the effects of DDT as an 5

insecticide were not discovered until Paul Mueller discovered its deadly properties while looking

for a way to control clothes moths in 1939. 6

Mueller won the 1948 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for his findings. DDT kills 7

insects by causing neurons to spontaneously fire, leading to spasms and death. 8

US Malaria Eradication

The CDC (Communicable Disease Center back then) was founded in 1946. Its initial aim was to

eradicate malaria from the United States. On July 1, 1947, Dr. Louis Williams founded the 9

National Malaria Control Program which was a joint operation by the CDC, US Public Health

Service, and 13 southwestern states. 10

DDT was the primary eradication method. The program was so successful that by 1952, it

completely stopped as the eradication was achieved. Over five million sprayings were

5 National Pesticide Information Center, et al. “DDT General Fact Sheet.” National Pesticide Information Center, National Pesticide Information Center, 1999, npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf. 6 Bate, Roger. “The Rise, Fall, Rise, and Imminent Fall of DDT.” American Enterprise Institute, American Enterprise Institute, 5 Nov. 2007, www.aei.org/publication/the-rise-fall-rise-and-imminent-fall-of-ddt/. 7 Nobelprize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1948.” Nobelprize.org, 2019, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1948/summary/. 8 Dunning, Brian. “DDT: Secret Life of a Pesticide.” Skeptoid, 2 Nov. 2010, skeptoid.com/episodes/4230. 9 Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “CDC - Parasites - Malaria.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Nov. 2018, www.cdc.gov/parasites/malaria/index.html. 10 ibid

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administered from overhead airplanes or onto the inside of homes, and a declaration from the US

government proclaimed malaria to no longer be a significant public health issue. 11

Today (2010-2014), in the US, malaria rates are around 2,000 cases per year. Most of those are

from people coming back from vacations to areas where malaria is still common (Africa or

Southern Asia). These rates have stayed steady since 1950. To compare, in 1947, there were 12

around 15,000 cases reported in the US. 13

DDT’s Decline

Because DDT was so successful at eliminating the Anopheles mosquito, it then moved on to

controlling any common pest along with agricultural annoyances.

DDT was so widely used that insects began developing resistances to DDT. Just one mutation 14

in the GSTe2 gene allows mosquitos to quickly metabolize DDT, rendering it harmless in the

body. 15

In addition to the rise of malaria resistance in insects, environmental concerns began to surface

during the 1950s and 60s. The United States Department of Agriculture began putting

11 ibid 12 ibid 13 ibid 14 Bate, Roger. “The Rise, Fall, Rise, and Imminent Fall of DDT.” American Enterprise Institute, American Enterprise Institute, 5 Nov. 2007, www.aei.org/publication/the-rise-fall-rise-and-imminent-fall-of-ddt/. 15 Riveron, Jacob M, et al. “A Single Mutation in the GSTe2 Gene Allows Tracking of Metabolically Based Insecticide Resistance in a Major Malaria Vector.” Genome Biology, BioMed Central, 25 Feb. 2014, genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/gb-2014-15-2-r27.

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restrictions on insecticides, including DDT. This was compounded by the publication of Silent 16

Spring, which catalyzed the ban on DDT.

Silent Spring

In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring after four grueling years of work. 17 18

The book’s most famous chapter was the first. ‘A Fable for Tomorrow’ spoke of a fictional,

small, desolate American town. The wonderful sounds of Spring had been obliterated by the

overuse of insecticides. “No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in

this stricken world. The people had done it to themselves.”, Carson wrote in the poetic, yet

solemn chapter. 19

Within the book, Carson argued that “insecticides” should be renamed “biocides” for they

destroyed all life, not just insects. 20

16 Environmental Protection Agency. “DDT - A Brief History and Status.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 11 Aug. 2017, www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status. 17 Lear, Linda. “Rachel Carson, The Life and Legacy.” Rachel Carson, Biography, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1996, www.rachelcarson.org/. 18 Natural Resources Defense Council. “The Story of Silent Spring.” NRDC, 13 Aug. 2015, www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring. 19 Carson, Rachel. “A Fable for Tomorrow.” Silent Spring, by Rachel L. Carson, Mifflin, 1962, p. 3. 20 Stoll, Mark. “RACHEL CARSON'S SILENT SPRING, A BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.” The Great Smog of London | Environment & Society Portal, 2012, www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/silent-spring/industrial-and-agricultural-interests-fight-back.

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Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the

surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life? They should not be called

'insecticides', but 'biocides’. 21

Animals exposed to DDT quickly develop tremors and convulsions and reported effects on

humans include nausea, lethargy, vomiting, and tremors. DDT also causes liver and reproductive

complications and is considered a B2 carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

(it causes cancer in laboratory animals but there is insufficient evidence for humans). 22

DDT is also difficult to remove from the environment. It has a lengthy half-life of 15 years (it

can be broken down by solar-exposure and microorganisms ) and is not water-soluble, making it 23

not dilutable by rain or other natural processes. 24

Additionally, not only does DDT kill birds outright, but its consumption also causes the thinning

of eggshells. This almost drove the grand bald eagle itself to extinction. 25 26

21 Carson, Rachel. “The Obligation to Endure.” Silent Spring, by Rachel L. Carson, Houghton Mifflin, 1962, p. 7, 12. 22 National Pesticide Information Center, et al. “DDT General Fact Sheet.” National Pesticide Information Center, National Pesticide Information Center, 1999, npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf. 23 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “Toxic Substances Portal - DDT, DDE, DDD.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 Jan. 2015, www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=79&tid=20. 24 National Pesticide Information Center, et al. “DDT General Fact Sheet.” National Pesticide Information Center, National Pesticide Information Center, 1999, npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf. 25 ibid 26 Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife. “Bald Eagle Fact Sheet.” Official Web Page of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 4 Mar. 2019, www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/recovery/biologue.html.

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Another chapter titled ‘And No Birds Sing’ listed first-hand accounts of the horrific destruction

chemical insecticides can cause. An unnamed Alabamian woman despairingly wrote after a

spraying to control fire ants:

Our place has been a veritable bird sanctuary for over half a century. Last July we

all remarked, "there are more birds than ever”. Then suddenly, in the second week

of August, they all disappeared… There was not a sound of the songbird. It was

eerie, terrifying. What was man doing to our perfect and beautiful world? 27

“What was man doing to our perfect and beautiful world?” Were the environmental hazards

worth it? How would people let such things happen? These were the questions that Carson

brought to the masses.

A Growing Dispute

Silent Spring exposed the toxic effects many insecticides (not only DDT) had on the

environment. Quite literally flying off the bookshelves, it stayed on the New York Times

bestseller list for 31 consecutive weeks. Owing part of her success to a three article series in the 28

27 Carson, Rachel. “And No Birds Sing.” Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1962, pp. 104–105. 28 Berry-Caban, Cristobal S. “DDT and Silent Spring: Fifty Years After.” JMVH DDT and Silent Spring Fifty Years after Comments, Journal for Military and Veterans Health, Oct. 2011, jmvh.org/article/ddt-and-silent-spring-fifty-years-after/.

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New Yorker, Silent Spring sold over six million copies in the US alone and has been translated

into over 30 languages. , 29 30

Silent Spring affected not only America but all of Europe as well. In Sweden, it became 31

commonplace to hear “biocide” in place of “insecticide”, and in the US, citizens began a

“steadily growing chorus of outraged protest” for a ban after DDT’s dangers became known to

the public. , , 32 33 34

A massive controversy was sparked as major pesticide companies released “anti-Carson

propaganda” in an effort to maintain sales. The industry violently lashed out toward Carson. The

National Agricultural Chemical Society sponsored a $25,000 (210,000 in today’s dollars)

(dis)informational campaign to discredit Carson. 35

29 Palacio, Zulima. “'Silent Spring' Turns Fifty.” VOA, VOA, 4 Sept. 2012, www.voanews.com/a/silent-spring-turns-fifty-years-old/1501317.html. 30 Lee, John M. “'Silent Spring' Is Now Noisy Summer; Pesticides Industry Up in Arms Over a New Book Rachel Carson Stirs Conflict—Producers Are Crying 'Foul' RACHEL CARSON UPSETS INDUSTRY.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 July 1962, 31 Peyton, Brian. “Rachel Carson.” NASA, NASA, 13 Nov. 2002, earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Carson. 32 Stoll, Mark. “RACHEL CARSON'S SILENT SPRING, A BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.” The Great Smog of London | Environment & Society Portal, 2012, www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/silent-spring/industrial-and-agricultural-interests-fight-back. 33 Renner, Rebecca. “Silent Spring Is More than a Scientific Landmark: It's Literature.” Literary Hub, 20 Apr. 2018, lithub.com/silent-spring-is-more-than-a-scientific-landmark-its-literature/. 34 Lockwood, Alex. “The Affective Legacy of Silent Spring.” Environmental Humanities, Duke University Press, 1 May 2012, read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article/1/1/123/8076/The-Affective-Legacy-of-Silent-Spring. 35 Stoll, Mark. “RACHEL CARSON'S SILENT SPRING, A BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.” The Great Smog of London | Environment & Society Portal, 2012, www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/silent-spring/industrial-and-agricultural-interests-fight-back.

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Velsicol labeled Carson as some sort of sinister Communist propaganda agent working for the

Soviet Union. Another company degraded her for being a “spinster with an affinity for cats” or 36

not a “scientist but rather as a fanatic defender of the cult of the balance of nature”. Others drew 37

effigies of Carson dressed as a witch.

Monsanto released a parody of ‘A Fable for Tomorrow’ named ‘A Desolate Year’ describing a

world in which pesticides were not used. Modern agricultural systems collapsed and massive

waves of famine ensued. The main DDT manufacturer in the US, Montrose, publicized future

Nobel laureate, Norman Borlaug’s similar prediction on DDT: Without it, humanity would

starve. 38

Birds were not dying, but in fact, thriving, said Robert White-Stevens, future Environmental

Sciences professor at Rutgers University. In 1963, he said, “Thus robins over which Miss Carson

despairingly cries requiem as they approach extinction, show an increase of nearly 1200% over

the past two decades.” Not published in academia, this “fact” was firmly refuted a year later. 39

36 Griswold, Eliza. “How 'Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Sept. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/magazine/how-silent-spring-ignited-the-environmental-movement.html. 37 Sargent, Francis W. “Since Silent Spring.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Mar. 1970, www.nytimes.com/1970/03/01/archives/since-silent-spring-the-greater-pests-have-turned-out-to-be-the.html 38 Stoll, Mark. “RACHEL CARSON'S SILENT SPRING, A BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.” The Great Smog of London | Environment & Society Portal, 2012, www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/silent-spring/industrial-and-agricultural-interests-fight-back. 39 ibid

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In 1962, the New York Times published the famous article ‘Silent Spring Becomes Noisy

Summer’ describing the “David versus Goliath” situation. “Rachel Carson Stirs

Conflict—Producers are Crying ‘Foul’,” it wrote. (Figure 1, Appendix A) 40

However, Carson was taken seriously in other quarters; President John F. Kennedy himself was

deeply concerned about what Carson was saying and encouraged Congressional hearings to

investigate pesticides. Kennedy stated shortly after he came to office, “We must restore our own

woodlands as a source of strength for the Nation’s future.” On June 4, 1963, Carson testified 41

about the environmental dangers of pesticides before the Senate. (Figure 2, Appendix A) 42

Yet even after all of this, Congress did not place a serious ban on DDT. Rachel Carson continued

to fight for the environment until her death on April 14, 1964.

DDT’s Inevitable Doom

Finally, in 1970, the EPA was formed under the Nixon Administration. Immediately, a partial

ban was placed on DDT. On June 14, 1972, an entire decade after Silent Spring, the EPA

announced a total cancellation order. DDT was banned for its ability to “persist in the

40 Lee, John M. “'Silent Spring' Is Now Noisy Summer; Pesticides Industry Up in Arms Over a New Book Rachel Carson Stirs Conflict—Producers Are Crying 'Foul' RACHEL CARSON UPSETS INDUSTRY.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 July 1962, www.nytimes.com/1962/07/22/archives/silent-spring-is-now-noisy-summer-pesticides-industry-up-in-arms.html?auth=login-email. 41 Brinkley, Douglas. “Rachel Carson and JFK, an Environmental Tag Team.” Audubon, 2012, www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2012/rachel-carson-and-jfk-environmental-tag-team. 42 Stoll, Mark. “RACHEL CARSON'S SILENT SPRING, A BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.” The Great Smog of London | Environment & Society Portal, 2012, www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/silent-spring/industrial-and-agricultural-interests-fight-back.

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environment, accumulate in fatty tissue, and travel long distances in the upper atmosphere”. 43

The US had until the end of the year to transition to substitutes for DDT. 44

Later, in 2004, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants banned DDT for all

uses except for malaria control. A total of 170 nations ratified this treaty.

Another Wave of Assault

Following 1972, people again attacked Carson and Silent Spring. This time, they blamed her for

misguided environmentalism or more specifically, increasing malaria rates. They supported their

arguments with the rise of malaria death rates after 1972. Humanity was so close to achieving

ultimate eradication, but malaria seemed to make an unpredictable resurgence.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute issued a report that “millions of people around the world

suffer the painful and often deadly effects of malaria because one person sounded a false alarm.”

Tom Coburn, a former Oklahoma Senator, stated, “millions of people, particularly children under

five, died because governments bought into Carson’s junk science claims about DDT.”

Some people even went as far as comparing Carson to infamous historical characters such as

Hitler. In “A State of Fear” by Michael Crichton, a character stated: “Banning DDT killed more

43 Environmental Protection Agency. “DDT - A Brief History and Status.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 11 Aug. 2017, www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status. 44 Environmental Protection Agency. “DDT Ban Takes Effect.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 31 Dec. 1972, archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/ddt-ban-takes-effect.html.

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people than Hitler”. According to him, the total number of deaths could be placed at a whopping

50 million. 45

Half a century after Carson’s death, Google Search changed its logo to commemorate her

accomplishments. This sparked outrage from critics. Breitbart News exclaimed:

Will Google be paying tribute to any of the other mass killers of the 20th century?

Hitler? Stalin? Mao? Pol Pot? Probably not. But then, none of the others have had

the benefit of having their images burnished by a thousand and one starry-eyed

greenies. 46

However, it was not Carson that was misguided, but the critics themselves. For instance, the

1972 cancellation order applied only to the United States. (Outside the border, DDT was

perfectly legal and inside the US, malaria was already practically non-existent.)

45 Connif, Richard. “Rachel Carson's Critics Keep On, But She Told Truth About DDT.” Yale E360, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 10 Sept. 2015, e360.yale.edu/features/rachel_carsons_critics_keep_on_but_she_told_truth_about_ddt. 46 Haberman, Clyde. “Rachel Carson, DDT and the Fight Against Malaria.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Jan. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/us/rachel-carson-ddt-malaria-retro-report.html.

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As William Ruckelshaus said, the EPA was unable to “presume to regulate the felt necessities of

other countries.” It was up to foreign governments to decide whether to place a ban on DDT in

their respective countries. 47

Additionally, Carson never intended for a total ban to be placed on DDT. She only wanted to

restrict the overuse of pesticides. She wrote, “No responsible person contends that insect-borne

disease should be ignored.” Using pesticides too often would cause it to accumulate in the 48

environment and even reduce the effectiveness of the pesticide itself. 49

As early as 1951, scientists were already noticing the development of insecticide resistance in the

Anopheles mosquito. At first, they thought that stronger chemicals would solve the problem.

However, after only a minimal amount of use, mosquitoes would become immune to those

chemicals too. It seemed like the world was getting beaten at an arms race against a tiny insect. 50

The cumulative number of malaria deaths did rise slightly after 1972. In 1970, malaria death

rates were at an all-time low. 578,800 malaria deaths were reported in that year versus the

47 Connif, Richard. “Rachel Carson's Critics Keep On, But She Told Truth About DDT.” Yale E360, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 10 Sept. 2015, e360.yale.edu/features/rachel_carsons_critics_keep_on_but_she_told_truth_about_ddt 48 Carson, Rachel. “The Rumblings of an Avalanche.” Silent Spring, by Rachel L. Carson, Houghton Mifflin, 1962, p. 266. 49 Haberman, Clyde. “Rachel Carson, DDT and the Fight Against Malaria.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Jan. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/us/rachel-carson-ddt-malaria-retro-report.html. 50 Howard A. Rusk, M. D. “Malaria Battle in Doubt; Warning Voiced That Carrier of Disease Could Outwit World's Scientific Skills.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Apr. 1960, www.nytimes.com/1960/04/10/archives/malaria-battle-in-doubt-warning-voiced-that-carrier-of-disease.html.

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3,132,000 in 1900. Afterward, malaria rates suddenly started climbing back up to just over a

million deaths at the turn of the century (1997). (Figure 3, Appendix A) 51

How did the annual deaths from malaria abruptly double when victory seemed so near? Carson

was not to blame. Alternatively, the cause was a lack of funding in poorer countries.

Governments and donors were suddenly, irrationally, unwilling to continue to fund malaria

eradication programs with the disease on its last legs. Or perhaps, another disaster (political,

economic, or natural) had people focusing on more pressing matters.

In a study by the Malaria Journal, 75 malaria resurgences across the globe from 1930-2000 were

analyzed. 91% could be at least partially accredited to weakened malaria combat program. With 52

the use of DDT, India was able to decrease its annual malaria death toll by three orders of

magnitude, from over 100 million to just 100,000. It appeared to be a battle won, but when the

United States Agency for International Development gave the Indian Government control over

malaria programs in 1965, a lack of funding resulted in malaria deaths going back up to six

million just 11 years later. , 53 54

51 Carter, Richard, and Kamini N. Mendis. “Evolutionary and Historical Aspects of the Burden of Malaria.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews, American Society for Microbiology Journals, 1 Oct. 2002, cmr.asm.org/content/15/4/564/figures-only#skip-link. 52 Cohen, Justin M., et al. “Malaria Resurgence: a Systematic Review and Assessment of Its Causes.” Malaria Journal, BioMed Central, 24 Apr. 2012, malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2875-11-122. 53 Offit, Paul A. “How Rachel Carson Cost Millions of People Their Lives.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 4 Feb. 2017, www.thedailybeast.com/how-rachel-carson-cost-millions-of-people-their-lives. 54 Connif, Richard. “Rachel Carson's Critics Keep On, But She Told Truth About DDT.” Yale E360, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 10 Sept. 2015, e360.yale.edu/features/rachel_carsons_critics_keep_on_but_she_told_truth_about_ddt.

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To further refute the anti-Carson argument, almost all deaths in the latter half of the 1900s were

in sub-Saharan Africa. Outside this small section of Earth, mortality rates from malaria

continued to steadily drop from 248,000 in 1970 to just 69,000 in 1997. (Figure 3, Appendix A) 55

Even today, many sub-Saharan African countries still use DDT to fight malaria which is

completely supported by the WHO.

Carson’s Legacy

Mass sprayings are now uncommon. Coating walls is the current prefered method. However,

some countries are transitioning to non-DDT methods to fight malaria. Central American

countries like Mexico are now using pyrethroid nets to kill mosquitos, and scientists are working

on a possible vaccine for malaria.

In the end, as Dr. St. Leger, a malaria researcher, put it: “The solution isn’t going to be relying

on any single technology as the silver bullet.” Most likely, it will take a compound effort to

eradicate malaria’s title as humankind’s deadliest parasitic adversary.

It is a tragedy that Carson’s legacy was tarnished with false blame for malaria deaths. Society

should instead celebrate her triumph in transforming public perceptions on the role of humans in

55 Carter, Richard, and Kamini N. Mendis. “Evolutionary and Historical Aspects of the Burden of Malaria.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews, American Society for Microbiology Journals, 1 Oct. 2002, cmr.asm.org/content/15/4/564/figures-only#skip-link.

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the larger world and sparking environmental awareness. In Silent Spring, she wrote a call to

action for citizens.

If the Bill of Rights contains no guarantee that a citizen shall be secure against

lethal poisons distributed either by private individuals or by public officials, it is

surely only because our forefathers, despite their considerable wisdom and

foresight, could conceive of no such problem. 56

No preexisting laws or practices could be substituted into this situation. Carson urged citizens to

form “citizen’s brigades”, non-governmental foundations devoted to the environment. 57

Even beyond the veil, Carson’s environmental ethos lived on through her words. Activists owed

her for many early successes, from the Clean Air and Water Acts to the first Earth Day on April

22, 1970. 20 million citizens participated in rallies during the First Earth day. 58 59

56 Carson, Rachel. “The Obligation to Endure.” Silent Spring, by Rachel L. Carson, Houghton Mifflin, 1962, pp. 7, 12. 57 Griswold, Eliza. “How 'Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Sept. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/magazine/how-silent-spring-ignited-the-environmental-movement.html. 58 ibid 59 Lewis, Jack. “The Birth of EPA.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, Nov. 1985, archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/birth-epa.html.

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President Jimmy Carter posthumously awarded Carson the 1980 Presidential Medal of Freedom,

and Times Magazine dubbed her as one of the “most influential thinkers of the twentieth

century” in 1999. 60

Rachel Carson was a brilliant, maybe even radical, thinker who helped change people’s

paradigms about the world. Because of her, it is no longer acceptable to blindly and carelessly

poison nature along with humans. Though she was criticized, her triumph has given us a cleaner

world.

60 Michals, Debra. “Rachel Carson.” National Women's History Museum, 2015, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rachel-carson.

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Appendix A

Charts and Images

Figure 1 ‘Silent Spring’ is now Noisy Summer’ title page. (Credit: New York Times, 1962 ) 61

61 Lee, John M. “'Silent Spring' Is Now Noisy Summer; Pesticides Industry Up in Arms Over a New Book Rachel Carson Stirs Conflict—Producers Are Crying 'Foul' RACHEL CARSON UPSETS INDUSTRY.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 July 1962, www.nytimes.com/1962/07/22/archives/silent-spring-is-now-noisy-summer-pesticides-industry-up-in-arms.html?auth=login-email.

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Figure 2 Rachel Carson at the 1963 Senate hearing on pesticides. (Credit: United Press International photo, 1963. Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. ) 62

62 Haberman, Clyde, and United Press International. “Rachel Carson's at the 1963 Pesticide Senate Subcommittee Hearing.” New York Times, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2017, static01.nyt.com/images/2017/01/23/us/23RETRO-01/23RETRO-01-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp.

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Figure 3 Malaria mortality in the 20th century. (Credit: World Health Organization, 1999 ) 63

63 Carter, Richard, and Kamini N. Mendis. “Evolutionary and Historical Aspects of the Burden of Malaria.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews, American Society for Microbiology Journals, 1 Oct. 2002, cmr.asm.org/content/15/4/564/figures-only#skip-link.

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Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources Brinkley, Douglas. “Rachel Carson and JFK, an Environmental Tag Team.” Audubon, 2012,

www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2012/rachel-carson-and-jfk-environmental-tag-team. This was an article by Audubon, one of the first non-profit environmental organizations. I used this source for the quote by John F. Kennedy. It helped me show that JFK was on the same side as Carson and helped her triumph through her tragic struggles.

Carson, Rachel L. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin, 1962 p. 3, 7, 104-105, 266. ‘A Fable for Tomorrow’

(p. 3) is the famous first chapter of Silent Spring. It described an imaginary place where all birds have been killed by pesticides. It helped me tell why Silent Spring was so popular. Pages 7 and 12 were some quotes from ‘The Obligation to Endure’ in Silent Spring. The first one was about the deadliness of insecticides and the second was a call to action of sorts. ‘And No Birds Sing’ (p. 104-105) quotes two letters telling of people’s personal experience with DDT. Pages 7, 12, and 104-105 helped show that DDT does actually kill wildlife. This last quote was from ‘The Rumblings of an Avalanche’ (p. 266). It helped me show that Carson never wanted malaria death rates to rise. It was not her intention for a total ban to be placed.

Environmental Protection Agency. “DDT Ban Takes Effect.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 31

Dec. 1972, archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/ddt-ban-takes-effect.html. This source was a short announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency dating back to December 31, 1972. It announced the ban on DDT that was going to take effect in 1973.

Haberman, Clyde, and United Press International. “Rachel Carson's at the 1963 Pesticide Senate

Subcommittee Hearing.” New York Times, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2017, static01.nyt.com/images/2017/01/23/us/23RETRO-01/23RETRO-01-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp. This picture is of Rachel Carson at the hearing before the Senate in 1963 concerning pesticides. It helped me show that the hearing was a serious deal.

Howard A. Rusk, M. D. “Malaria Battle in Doubt; Warning Voiced That Carrier of Disease Could Outwit

World's Scientific Skills.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Apr. 1960, www.nytimes.com/1960/04/10/archives/malaria-battle-in-doubt-warning-voiced-that-carrier-of-disease.html. This is a New York Times article dating back to 1960. It was about how mosquitoes were able to develop resistance to DDT and other chemicals.

Lee, John M. “'Silent Spring' Is Now Noisy Summer; Pesticides Industry Up in Arms Over a New Book

Rachel Carson Stirs Conflict—Producers Are Crying 'Foul' RACHEL CARSON UPSETS INDUSTRY.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 July 1962, www.nytimes.com/1962/07/22/archives/silent-spring-is-now-noisy-summer-pesticides-industry-up-in-arms.html?auth=login-email. This is an article from 1962 about the publication of Silent Spring. It helped show that there was a large controversy about if Carson was correct or not.

Peyton, Brian. “Rachel Carson.” NASA, NASA, 13 Nov. 2002,

earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Carson. This short series of articles on the NASA Earth

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Observatory page provided some insights on how she affected people in her time and ours. It also had the opening quote to my essay.

Sargent, Francis W. “Since Silent Spring.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Mar. 1970,

www.nytimes.com/1970/03/01/archives/since-silent-spring-the-greater-pests-have-turned-out-to-be-the.html. This newspaper article was from 1970. It is about how Congress finally placed a ban on DDT. It showed that even though it took a while, people did listen to Rachel Carson’s message.

Secondary Sources Bate, Roger. “The Rise, Fall, Rise, and Imminent Fall of DDT.” American Enterprise Institute, American

Enterprise Institute, 5 Nov. 2007, www.aei.org/publication/the-rise-fall-rise-and-imminent-fall-of-ddt/. This source gave some background information on DDT and examined how it affects malaria rates. It helped me know how DDT became so popular.

Berry-Caban, Cristobal S. “DDT and Silent Spring: Fifty Years After.” JMVH DDT and Silent Spring

Fifty Years after Comments, Journal for Military and Veterans Health, Oct. 2011, jmvh.org/article/ddt-and-silent-spring-fifty-years-after/. This article examined how DDT was used in WWII and how Rachel Carson got it banned by publishing Silent Spring. It showed that Silent Spring was the main reason DDT was banned.

Carter, Richard, and Kamini N. Mendis. “Evolutionary and Historical Aspects of the Burden of Malaria.”

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, American Society for Microbiology Journals, 1 Oct. 2002, cmr.asm.org/content/15/4/564/figures-only#skip-link. This source analyzed the origins of malaria and how it still affects society today. I used it for malaria death rates in the 20th century.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “CDC - Parasites - Malaria.” Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Nov. 2018, www.cdc.gov/parasites/malaria/index.html. This source provided lots of information about the malaria parasite. It also showed the early malaria eradication efforts in the US.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT).” Center for Disease

Control and Prevention, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nov. 2009, www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/pdf/DDT_FactSheet.pdf. This document had some information about DDT such as its harmfulness to animals and the environment. It also had information on its discovery and ban.

Cohen, Justin M., et al. “Malaria Resurgence: a Systematic Review and Assessment of Its Causes.”

Malaria Journal, BioMed Central, 24 Apr. 2012, malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2875-11-122. This article reviewed 75 malaria resurgences and their causes. It showed that most of the resurgences were because of a lack of anti-malaria program funding instead of Carson.

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Connif, Richard. “Rachel Carson's Critics Keep On, But She Told Truth About DDT.” Yale E360, Yale

School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 10 Sept. 2015, e360.yale.edu/features/rachel_carsons_critics_keep_on_but_she_told_truth_about_ddt. This source had reasons why Rachel Carson didn’t cause the resurgence of malaria in the late 20th century. It also had many quotes from Carson critics.

Dunning, Brian. “DDT: Secret Life of a Pesticide.” Skeptoid, 2 Nov. 2010, skeptoid.com/episodes/4230.

This podcast about DDT told its story from its rise to its fall. I used it for some background information and to learn how DDT kills insects.

Environmental Protection Agency. “DDT - A Brief History and Status.” EPA, Environmental Protection

Agency, 11 Aug. 2017, www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status. This was a short source on the origins, uses, and restrictions on DDT. It helped me with lots of background information.

Griswold, Eliza. “How 'Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement.” The New York Times, The

New York Times, 21 Sept. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/magazine/how-silent-spring-ignited-the-environmental-movement.html. This was a New York Times article about Rachel Carson. It helped me learn how she helped modern activists start the environmental movement.

Haberman, Clyde. “Rachel Carson, DDT and the Fight Against Malaria.” The New York Times, The New

York Times, 22 Jan. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/us/rachel-carson-ddt-malaria-retro-report.html. This newspaper article was a “retro report” on Rachel Carson. It showed how she spent all of her life trying to benefit the environment.

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Economics of Antimalarial Drugs. “A Brief History of

Malaria.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215638/. This was a segment of a book about malaria. It helped me with background information on the origins of malaria and how the ancients knew about it thousands of years ago.

Kimutai, Kenneth. “Is DDT Still Being Used?” World Atlas, World Atlas, 3 Apr. 2017,

www.worldatlas.com/articles/is-ddt-still-being-used.html. This article talked about where DDT is banned, partially banned, or still legal. It also listed off countries that manufacture DDT or use it still today.

Lear, Linda. “Rachel Carson, The Life, and Legacy.” Rachel Carson, Biography, Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt, 1996, www.rachelcarson.org/. This is Rachel Carson’s biography by Linda Lear. It was about her life and how she still impacts the world today.

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Lewis, Jack. “The Birth of EPA.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, Nov. 1985, archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/birth-epa.html. This is an article published by the EPA about its origins. In it, it mentions that Rachel Carson helped found the EPA and the environmental movement. It provided information on the first things activists did such as Earth Day.

Lockwood, Alex. “The Affective Legacy of Silent Spring.” Environmental Humanities, Duke University

Press, 1 May 2012, read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article/1/1/123/8076/The-Affective-Legacy-of-Silent-Spring. This article was about Rachel Carson’s legacy and her impact today. It showed what she helped change and how she did it.

Michals, Debra, Ph.D. “Rachel Carson.” National Women's History Museum, 2015,

www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rachel-carson. This is an article about Rachel Carson. It told about her legacy and the awards she was awarded after her death.

Mcneil, Donald G. “Fatal Malaria in the U.S. More Common Than Previously Known.” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 24 Apr. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/health/fatal-malaria-united-states.html. This was a short New York Times news article about malaria death rates. I referenced it for the modern malaria death rates.

National Pesticide Information Center, et al. “DDT General Fact Sheet.” National Pesticide Information

Center, National Pesticide Information Center, 1999, npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf. This factsheet contains some more information about DDT. It told me from when to when DDT was used within the US.

Natural Resources Defense Council. “The Story of Silent Spring.” NRDC, 13 Aug. 2015,

www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring. This source was about Silent Spring and Rachel Carson. It helped show that Rachel Carson worked very hard on it. She spent four years writing the book.

Nobelprize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1948.” Nobelprize.org, 2019,

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1948/summary/. This is a short summary of the 1948 Nobel Prize that Mueller received for discovering the insecticidal properties of DDT.

Offit, Paul A. “How Rachel Carson Cost Millions of People Their Lives.” The Daily Beast, The Daily

Beast Company, 4 Feb. 2017, www.thedailybeast.com/how-rachel-carson-cost-millions-of-people-their-lives. This article claimed that Rachel Carson caused many people to die from malaria by banning DDT. It helped show the other side of the dispute.

Palacio, Zulima. “'Silent Spring' Turns Fifty.” VOA, VOA, 4 Sept. 2012,

www.voanews.com/a/silent-spring-turns-fifty-years-old/1501317.html. This was an article about Silent Spring. This source helped me show how popular Silent Spring was. It showed its publication history, copies sold, and languages translated.

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Palmer, MD, Michael. “The Ban of DDT Did Not Cause Millions to Die from Malaria.” The University of Waterloo, University of Waterloo, 29 Sept. 2016, www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~mpalmer/stuff/DDT-myth.pdf. This article claimed that the whole malaria argument is completely unfounded and she should not be blamed for it. It analyzed malaria rates after the DDT ban and found that they were unrelated.

Renner, Rebecca. “Silent Spring Is More than a Scientific Landmark: It's Literature.” Literary Hub, 20

Apr. 2018, lithub.com/silent-spring-is-more-than-a-scientific-landmark-its-literature/. This was a “book review” of Silent Spring. Other than reviewing the book, it also talked about how she still affects the world today.

Riveron, Jacob M, et al. “A Single Mutation in the GSTe2 Gene Allows Tracking of Metabolically Based

Insecticide Resistance in a Major Malaria Vector.” Genome Biology, BioMed Central, 25 Feb. 2014, genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/gb-2014-15-2-r27. This study analyzed why mosquitos are gaining resistance. It showed that a single mutation was enough to render DDT harmless.

Stoll, Mark. “RACHEL CARSON'S SILENT SPRING, A BOOK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.”

The Great Smog of London | Environment & Society Portal, 2012, www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/silent-spring/industrial-and-agricultural-interests-fight-back. This presentation was about Silent Spring and its effects. It also listed off many ways that Rachel Carson was criticized for because of her book.

Tanabe, Kazuyuki, et al. “Plasmodium Falciparum Accompanied the Human Expansion out of Africa.”

NeuroImage, Academic Press, 17 June 2010, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982210006573. This article examined the origins of the malaria disease. It is an ancient disease, almost as old as humans themselves.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Bald Eagle Fact Sheet.” Official Web Page of the US Fish and Wildlife

Service, 4 Mar. 2019, www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/recovery/biologue.html. This is part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service page. It talked about how the bald eagle almost went extinct for many reasons including DDT thinning the eagle shells.

World Health Organization. “Do All Mosquitoes Transmit Malaria?” World Health Organization, World

Health Organization, 19 Apr. 2016, www.who.int/features/qa/10/en/. This source was about how mosquitoes transmit malaria and which ones do. It helped show that only Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria.

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