In chapter 2 of "Protecting New Jersey's Environment", Thomas Belton describes the effects that PCB has on the fish of New Jersey's waters, and how it also effects the humans that eat these fish. PCBs are carcinogens that are found in certain species of fish that cause cancer and can lead to birth defects and learning disabilities. Belton begins the chapter with a description of a boat ride with a few other men. They come across these poisoned fish, and make a failed attempt to catch them. Later on in the chapter, he discusses how there was an effort made to stop the consumption of the fish. However, the residents of these towns did not cooperate with these efforts. Some of them did not take the efforts seriously, and continued to consume the fish, while others were afraid on losing money. Even though there were many efforts to stop the consumption, there are still some of the chemical in fish today.
While reading this chapter, I became confused about some of the reasoning behind the efforts to stop the consumption of the poisoned fish. My main confusion was the fact that nobody mentioned not poisoning the water in the first place. Yes, it is important to make sure that nobody consumes this poison, but it is better to start at the root of the issue and stopping the dumping, fracking, and whatever is causing the fish to be poisoned. It is also shocking to see how much this poison affects humans. Many people don't care about ocean pollution because they don't believe it has anything to do with them, but it does due to the environmental food web. The fish consume the poison, and humans consume the fish, therefore poisoning the human. The humans are basically poisoning themselves when they dump waste into oceans, lakes. and other bodies of water. If we were to stop this all together, this would not be a problem.
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In chapter one of "Protecting New Jersey's Environment: From Cancer Alley to the New Garden State", author Thomas Belton describes his encounter with cancer and how it affected him when the disease first became "popular". Cancer was not always well known as it is today, which is understandable when you think of all of the medical advances that have occurred over the many years. Belton's story is of where he was and what he did when Nixon made his announcement about wanting a war on cancer. This disease takes many lives, and everybody and their mothers want it to disappear forever.
There is a pretty high chance that every single person on this earth has been affected by cancer in some way, shape, or form. A few years ago, I heard the news that a boy I went to middle school with had passed away from Leukemia. Even though I did not consider us friends, it still was a shock that somebody I had Language Arts Class with is not even alive anymore. I remember exactly where I was when I found out the news, and I felt so numb and confused. I would not wish the feeling on anybody, and I too, am fond of declaring war on cancer. |
Rebecca MarcinkoJunior at Seton Hall University, studying Elementary Special Education, Environmental Studies, and Applied Behavioral Analysis. Archives
May 2018
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