Don’t take singing birds for granted
DID you hear the birds singing outside this morning? A lot of us take that common sound of nature for granted. Most people these days do not realise how close we came to living in a much quieter world and to the widespread destruction of entire ecosystems and some of our most iconic species.
That our springtime is not silent today is thanks to one of the original victories of the modern environmental movement and the book that many credit for starting that movement. It is a story of hope. One that should inspire faith in those of us who care deeply about stopping the climate crisis and saving our planet.
The synthetic pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane — commonly known as DDT — came into heavy use in the 1940s. It was used in crop and livestock production, in people’s home gardens, and to combat some insect-borne illnesses. Within a couple decades, it became clear that DDT made people and animals sick. It also sent certain species, like North America’s great birds of prey, spiralling towards extinction.
Then in 1962, the book Silent Spring
by author and marine biologist Rachel Carson used science to expose the “shadow of death” cast by DDT. More than 40 years before former US Vicepresident Al Gore sounded the alarm about global warming with his film An Inconvenient Truth, Carson focused the world’s attention on the vast harm caused by humans’ indiscriminate use of chemicals to tame nature.
The New Yorker magazine first ran excerpts of Silent Spring in June of 1962. When the full book was released the following September, it only took three months to sell 100,000 hard cover copies and two years to sell more than one million. It ignited a movement. Within a decade, Congress passed the landmark National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created. In 1972, DDT was banned, and one year later, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act.
That is just the beginning of the success story.
DDT did not just kill crop-killing bugs. It clung strongly to soil and ended up in the water. It remained toxic, as it was passed from animal to animal all the way up the food chain. It became heavily present in fish, rodents, and smaller birds eaten by eagles, hawks, osprey, condors, and the other great raptors.
Then the raptors started to disappear. DDT poisoning caused the shells of the birds’ eggs to become so thin they broke under the weight of birds sitting on them in the nest. Between ending the use of DDT and the efforts to protect habitats and reintroduce animal populations, America’s great raptors came back from the brink.
The peregrine falcon, which has the distinction of being the world’s fastest animal, was close to being completely wiped out. By 1951, the last breeding pair of peregrines was documented in Illinois. Today, they are plentiful in the state, including its biggest city Chicago, where the skyscrapers mimic the peregrines’ natural habitat among high cliffs. In fact, this year marks 25 years since Chicagoans voting the peregrine falcon the official city bird of Chicago. The Chicago Ornithological Society celebrated by declaring 2024 ‘The Year of the Peregrine Falcon’.
Our national symbol itself, the bald eagle, was down to only 417 nesting pairs in known existence by 1963. Now, where I live in Maryland, I see at least one bald eagle almost every day.
In addition to Carson’s mark on protecting nature and public health, we must also recognise a lesson from Silent Spring’s impact: that in the fight to save our planet we can — and I believe we will — win. That is an important lesson for these times.
According to a study last year by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, around seven per cent of Americans are experiencing psychological distress over climate change. For the younger generations — Gen Z and millennials — that number goes up to 10 per cent.
Climate anxiety and despair are understandable. But while last year was the hottest year on record and severe weather events are increasing, cause of hope is all around us. Solar and wind power are now less expensive than dirty fossil fuels and getting more affordable by the day. And a new green manufacturing sector is taking root that is creating good jobs and will help the lives of working people, in addition to protecting our health and our environment. The movement launched by Silent Spring and our success in bringing back species that were all but extinct prove we are capable of great things.
So let the fact that today our spring is not silent be a reminder that we can be our own salvation.