Re: Global warming "hockey stick" questionable?

gzuckier_at_snail-mail.net
Date: 03/16/05 

Date: 16 Mar 2005 09:09:13 -0800

BillC wrote:

> In his latest best seller State of Fear, Michael Crichton does a
devastating
> expose of the way ecological groups have tweaked data and facts to
create
> mass hysteria. He points out that we know astonishingly little about
the
> environment. All sides make exaggerated claims.

Here's one exaggerated claim from one side:
"Since the ban, two million people a year have died unnecessarily from
malaria, mostly children. The ban has caused more than fifty million
needless deaths. Banning DDT killed more people than Hitler."
That's from Crichton's book, unfortunately. The unexaggerated truth is,
that DDT is NOT banned for use eradicating malaria or any other
disease-related use. Only banned from agricultural use. And not only
has that not caused 'more than 50 million needless deaths', the
agricultural ban has SAVED millions of lives by reducing the spread of
DDT resistance caused by widespread agricultural DDT use. In fact,
"Corr­elating the use of DDT in El Salvador with renewed malaria
transmission,­ it can be estimated that at current rates each kilo of
insecticide add­ed to the environment will generate 105 new cases of
malaria." (C­hapin, Georgeanne & Robert Wasserstrom, "Agricultural
production an­d malaria resurgence in Central America and India",
Nature, Vol. 293, ­1981, page 183).
Now, starting with no knowldege of DDT regulation other than seeing
that quote from Crichton in an editorial in the WSJ, which is immediate
grounds for suspecting it to be false, it took me a grand total of less
than 10 minutes to discover that not only is DDT not banned from
antimalarial use, but that it's increased use of DDT that causes
malaria deaths, not the ban. And I don't get paid for looking this
stuff up. Can't highly-paid-for-this-stuff Crichton spare an equal
amount of time to check the nonsense that comes in one ear before he
spews it back out?
Let me stress again, this is not just an "exaggerated claim"; this is
Crichton pretending he has a good estimate of the number of deaths
caused by environmentalism; with a number that is apparently just
totally made up, since the 'cause' of the 'effect' he is claiming to
quantize does not in fact exist. And then he has the nerve to complain
that
"we know astonishingly little about the environment. All sides make
exaggerated claims."?
It's Crichton who knows astonishingly little about environmental
regulations and is going way beyond 'exaggerated claims' to full blown
fantasy.

Relevant Pages

  • Give Us DDT
    ... Uganda -- Though Africa's sad experience with colonialism ... a lethal vestige remains: malaria. ... Trichloroethane -- DDT. ... and the environment, but also the single most effective anti-malarial ...
    (talk.politics.misc)
  • Re: OT: Mars
    ... The Mexican Government plans to phase out DDT in malaria control over the ... DDT will be used as one of the three main tools against malaria. ... organochlorines, and although they proved to be enormously effective at the time, they ... It's not possible to put poisons of any form into the environment in large ...
    (comp.sys.hp.mpe)
  • Re: Why environmentalist are genocidal mass murderers
    ... will not sanction aid for DDT spraying. ... malaria, a permanently debilitating disease. ... "Also, there is a clear procedure that endemic countries may follow to use DDT, and having done so, they have the RIGHT at international law to ... It wasn't the *use* of toxic chemicals that environmentalists protested, ...
    (rec.bicycles.tech)
  • Re: Whos afraid of Rachel Carson?? Republican liars, thats who
    ... DDT did to the developing world overshadow her other contributions. ... for fighting malaria, and thatCarson'sadvice, if followed from the start, ... When the bill to name the post office went through ... environmentalists' policies, they say they want to reduce world ...
    (alt.politics)
  • Re: DDT Ban myth still not quite dead.
    ... I'd be very surprised if WHO 'rescinded the ban' given that no such ban has ... DDT was NOT banned as a form of control for malaria mosquitos in any country ... killed 20 million kids" rightard bullshit - it's not just a lie it's ...
    (soc.culture.scottish)
Quantcast