HST 220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Rachel Carson, Norman Borlaug, Unintended Consequences
Document Summary
Population changes: 1050 - 5 million, 1550 - 800 million, 1920 - 1 billion, 2019, now - 7 billion. The green revolution = the efforts of scientists and governments to industrialize agriculture in developing nations. Normal borlaug = the father of the green revolution: developed new strands of wheat, the rst essential component of social justice is adequate food for all . Increased global grain yield by 2% per year. Key components of the green revolution: new strains of wheat, corn, cotton, new irrigation systems, more modern farm machinery, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, unintended consequences. Synthetic pesticides & herbicides: could kill local ora and fauna, increase in cancer rates. Farmers going into debt: buying seeds, in-ground wells in india. Noticed that the ddt pesticide (which killed bugs), also killed the birds that ate the bugs. Distrust of authority - from both the left and the right. Environmental: diet for a small planet (1971) Thomas malthus still wasn"t right - yet.
