Blog...

We really don’t understand how the world works. People need to realize that the earth has been able to sustain itself for millions of years because of a balance in the environment. Sure, there are diseases and natural disasters that happen all the time, but they are all part of the balance and all serve some sort of purpose. The problem is that we don’t like these “disasters� because they negatively impact our well being. A perfect example is the fuss that forest fires cause. Naturally, they are an important aspect to forest regeneration, but when you read a headline proclaiming another forest fire, you can be certain that the article will be negative. I recall the fires in the BWCA last summer that caused so much panic. How much property damage will be done? Who will lose their homes? We have, in a way, demonized forest fires because they are an inconvenience to us. Not to downplay the suffering of people who have lost everything due to forest fires, but we have only ourselves to blame. The practice of containing forest fires has become common, but a thousand years ago, these fires would have be able to burn without constraints. Can we really understand the full ramifications of our actions by not letting the fires blaze uncontrolled? If we are to live in this world, we have to accept that the earth has a certain way of functioning that might not always seem logical to us. According, the practice of man started, controlled burns has taken root(no pun intended...). These burns allow portions of the forest to be rejuvenated while at the same time protecting people and property from the fires. We are trying to adapt to the needs of the earth, but it’s hard to say now if these controlled burns can achieve the same results. Carson highlighted another area in which humans are interfering with the natural way of the world. Single crop farming is very detrimental to the environment. Not only does it ruin the soil, but it allows for certain types of insects and other animals to thrive, while more or less eliminating others. In the natural world, there is diversity in plant life so that all different animals can survive. With single crop farming, only the animals that can feed on that particular crop will survive. With the abundance of food, their number will flourish, and as their numbers flourish, they will eat more and more of the crop. Clearly this is bad for the farmer, who will do anything to get rid of these bugs. So, in comes pesticides and we all know the bad things that arise with overuse. We need to be come proactive in how we deal with this problem. It’s much more complex than the issue of forest fires, and it would be impossible to turn away from the single crop farm now, but we have to think of ways that we can become better neighbors with our world.