Rachel Carson

When it comes to the environmental movement, marine biologist and author, Rachel Carson led the way when she expressed her concerns of using synthetic pesticides. Rachel Carson had the opportunity to start her own environmental movement through her book, Silent Spring. When Silent Spring was first published in 1962, many chemical companies began to lash out because of her accusations, but in the end, Carson's concerns were not ignored. She also believed that the advances in technology would cause many consequences that would lead to chain reactions of permanent damage to the environment and human health. For example, the pesticides would not only kill off the insects in the affected areas, but it would also kill of the animals that depended on those insects for food and survival. This would ultimately cause detrimental damage to the ecosystem and cause many different species to die off.

Rachel Carson managed to promote a policy that banned the use of harmful pesticides. She even led the way to help create the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that protects the well being of humans and the environment as a whole in the United States. Her protesting helped the Environmental Protection Agency establish a few laws and policies to help preserve the natural environment from destructive chemicals. Carson also believed that the chemicals would not only damage the ecosystem and environment at that time, but that it would also stop the overall production of new life forms in the near and distant future. With her help and determination, there are now laws and regulations that put the needs of environment first to make the world a more sustainable for future generations.

Capitalism vs. Socialism

In simple terms, capitalism is the economic thought process that focuses on having a free market. The economy would be beneficial for those who naturally rise on their own economic wins if the government did not play an important role in deciding where and how the money should flow. However, there are those who are unlucky in the economic world that often find themselves on the other end of the spectrum with little to no financial help.

Socialism on the other hand focuses more on uniting groups of people together, while also creating more economic equality through social programs such as welfare, free healthcare programs and education for the elderly and children who struggle in poverty. Socialism also implies that in order for such programs and benefits to exist, the government must play an important role in regulating where the money comes from and how it should be distributed throughout the country. The government would have the means to raise taxes among the rich to provide funding for the poor. 

According to Simon Dresner's book, The Principles of Sustainability, methods of capitalism are not as sustainable as the methods of socialism. Capitalism is seen as a more personal way of handling issues where people often believe that "every man is for himself." People would chose to focus more on their own problems, successes, and growth instead of paying special attention to the bigger picture of sustainability. Capitalists such as Thomas Malthus wanted to focus on economic growth by raising the standard of living for individual families. Socialists such as Karl Marx wanted to focus on preserving power and control of not only the economy, but also the environment, to meet the general and basic needs of humans. He explained that growth is very limited and that supplies should only be produced and consumed if it is beneficial for many people or in multiple ways. The idea of socialism is to gather people together and have them see the bigger picture of their world now and where it is headed in the near and distant future. This is why the idea of socialism fosters a better plan for sustainability. 

"Pink" Lake Hillier in Western Australia

A pink lake... Can you believe it? Although it may be difficult to see the actual pink color in the first Google Earth image above, Lake Hillier is known for it's bright pink color and extremely high salt content. You can definitely see a major contrast in color between the lake and the Great Southern Ocean that borders the Southwestern Coastline of Australia.

Scientists have reported that Lake Hillier gets its vibrant pink color from a combination of harmless bacteria called Halobacteria, an algae called Dunaliella salina, and its extremely high salt content. The red algae combined with the salt produces the bright, bubble gum pink color, and the bacteria keeps the color permanent all year long. The sand that surround the lake is known to have a 93% salt content. The algae is known to be used in many cosmetic items to help exfoliate and brighten the skin. Swimming is allowed in Lake Hillier as long as people are cautious of ingesting the water.

There are actually seven other "pink" lakes around the world that are similar to Lake Hillier. There is Lake Rebta in Senegal, Pink Hutt Lagoon in Eastern Australia, Lake Goldfield in Northern Australia, Pink Lake of Salina de Torrevieja in Spain, Dusty Rose Lake in Canada, Pink Masazir Lake in Azerbaijan, and Lake Hyderbad in India. Locals often visit the lakes to extract salt to use in their foods, cosmetics, trade, and other everyday necessities. Many people thrive off the salt that is produced by the lakes, and hundreds of people have reported their travels to these lakes to see the interesting pink color.

However, there have been some reports of pollution that appears to gather around the beaches of the lake due to high tides from the ocean. Oil spills have also been reported that have caused salt extractions become difficult throughout some parts of the year. Because of the high salt content of the lake and the ocean, not many animals can survive in this area since fresh water is limited. With that being said, the island is left without much diversity among species according to biologist, George F. Walkins (Walkins, 2007). Although the lake seems to provide a number of benefits for locals when it comes to salt extraction, it also plays a negative role among the animal populations on the island as a whole. This ultimately effect the how the environment can sustain itself if there are so few animals to occupy the land.

Pink Lake of Salina de Torrevieja, Spain

Pink Lake of Salina de Torrevieja, Spain