Science and Survival

-Barry Commoner

Summary:

There is some disagreement about the effects of medical hazards and effects of DDT, smog and fallout. We have already used them without knowing the risk caused by these pollutants. As a result, we have loaded the substance in our blood that resists our blood circulation. People wanted to make bomb to kill mosquitoes. They have loaded their bodies with serontium-90 and DDT which is too much dangerous for us. People are conducting experiment on their own body these days. So these are the main components of public health hazards of present.

Some people may concern about the damage of environment; whereas others would argue that it is the achievement of science whether it is good or bad. They would argue that it would already happen in our life and if we don’t take risk the achievement of science and technology is useless. Possible errors may exist with the use of science and expansion of technology. In the past, the risk of science and technology was confined to a certain place. These days it has influenced the entire world. For example: air pollution is everywhere; fallout is worldwide; synthetic chemicals may remain under soil for many years; a radioactive pollutant is everywhere; and the effect of carbon-14 will affect for thousands of years. The excessive use of carbon dioxide could cause floods which could cover much of the earth’s surface.

Nowadays, the errors have been growing. When there was a boiler explosion, it was taken as an art of science. If a single nuclear power would burst, it will turn the whole area uninhabitable. We can’t imagine the negative effect of it as it is beyond imagination. Hence modern scientific experiments have been conducted in a trial-and-error approach.

Some may argue that the hazards of modern pollutants are small in comparison to other human activities. For example the fallout hazard is much smaller in comparison to the road or plane accidents. We should think about the future generations. The effect of fallout, smog or chemical is so serious that we would realize it only after the consequence is too serious. Science has forgotten the duty of prediction and control on human activities to save people from pollutants. The true ratio of danger isn’t represented by the present condition. We will surely feel its result in the future if we don’t correct this basic fault of the scientific enterprise in time.

1.   Match the segments in Section A with the correct corresponding segments from Section B. Make sure that the resulting sentence corresponds with the author’s point of view on the subject.

a.       A single explosion in a nuclear power plant ….. might kill thousands of people.

b.      Extra carbon dioxide from fuel combustion ….. might eventually cause floods.

c.       DDT and strontium-90 in the air …. may interfere with the functioning of the blood.

d.      Carbon-14 …. will remain on the earth’s surface for thousands of years.

e.       The effect of smog, fallout or chemical pollutants…. may be extremely harmful for future generations.

f.       Synthetic chemicals …..may remain in the soil for years.

2.   Drawing your information from the passage given above, answer the following questions in complete sentences. Your answer to every question should not exceed 25 words.

a.       Name three pollutants with which man has loaded the atmosphere.

Answer: They are smog, fallout and chemical pollutants.

b.      What would happen if there was an explosion in a nuclear power plant?

Answer: It would kill thousands of people and the area will be uninhabitable.

c.       What is one of the major duties of science that the author writes about?

Answer: Science should predict about the dangers and control of human intervention into nature.

d.      What is the true measure of the danger of modern pollutants?

Answer: It will certainly affect our life in the future so we should correct the basic fault on time.

-By Prem Prasad Sigdel