Chapter 7 "Needless Havoc" Summary

Carson lists some of the ways humans have done great damage to other life forms: the slaughter of buffalo, the massacre of shorebirds, and the near-decimation of egrets for their feathers. Now the chemical killings join this litany of destruction. Chemical insecticides applied to the land and water are killing every conceivable kind of creature. Birds, fish, and mammals of all sizes are dying, along with the targeted insects. Citizens must discern for themselves who is telling the truth: the wildlife biologists and forestry experts who decry the mass killing of so much life or the chemical-wielding entomologists who overlook the terrible flaws in their programs of blanket spraying. Carson encourages her readers to examine the evidence for themselves.

Wildlife is unlikely to bounce back after sprayings that kill large numbers of their kind. Spraying tends to...