Posted on 07/30/2007 8:26:22 AM PDT by george76
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
As a side note: is it known that DDT could have been used to kill off the beetles, or is that just an assumption?
We are battling beetles on our property, so far very successfully. There is another chemical that is used to battle the beetles (not sure of the name) but it is very expensive. It costs us 1200 per year to protect one acre of 80 year old trees.
“The big DDT scare was concocted by the envirowhackos”
Old college buddy of mine is from India. He’d be about 42yo, give or take. Told me his experience with DDT when he was a kid. He said, the first year and the second year were great — no bugs anywhere. Then the third and fourth year, the cats and dogs started dying off. Then the fifth year, the bugs came back impervious to the stuff.
DDT can be really useful stuff — but you can’t just spray it indiscriminately. You wind up poisoning everything, and the bugs evolve immunity fairly fast. You have to spray the right amount, at the right places, and so on. The problem with DDT was that untrained people were using it, and using it wrong.
I guess a lot of places where it’s illegal now are looking at bringing it back.
“Environmentalism Kills”
Fortunately for the Canadians in British Columbia they are addressing the Lodgepole Pine beatle infestation by increasing harvest.
In the US private timber owners are also cutting it as fast as possible.
However, the US federal timberlands are not harvesting fast enough.What was once primarily a Candian issue has spread south and we are not acting to cut the timber because of environmental injuctions.
The Lumber Broker
When these fires get going...lots of wildlife will be lost.
Not just air pollution and water pollution...
I agree that DDT was used too much by untrained people, however, it is a misconception that isects can develope an immunity to it in just two years. DDT was widely used (really overused) in the US from the late 1930’s until 1971 (I think) when it was banned and there were relatively few problems with insects developing immunity. A small amount goes a long way. I have read that an African hut lightly sprayed with DDT will repel insects for up to a year.
You know, I really ought to pay attention to the spelling reminders that Mozilla gives me. (roll eyes)
Tweedle Beetle Battle?
Thanks for the pictures. I was a sub contractor working on USFS timber inventory jobs in 1985 & 1986 We worked on nine national forests in five states over the course of those two years....spent several months on the White River and Route National Forests in and around Vail, Eagle and Steamboat Springs.
To a man, all of us young dirt foresters predicted this, because we learned in school that dead trees get hit by lightning and catch on fire. Add wind and LOOK OUT!
Yellowstone fire of 1988
Rodeo Chediski (arizona) 2005
Vail colorado 200?
Vail is a mess.
Dead trees overhang hundreds of houses next to the Interstate. The fire will have no problem jumping the Interstate then running up the valley toward the condos and hotels.
If the town is full of tourists and with only this one road, many may die.
The response may be : ‘No one told us’ or ‘Who knew ?’
You know, I’ve never really looked into it. Vivek told me that the bugs were back in just a few years. He was there, I didn’t have a reason to disbelieve him.
I just googled “ddt evolve resistance” and the top hit was something called Blackwell.com whatever that is. But they say .. quote..
Preventing malaria by killing mosquitoes
Malaria can be prevented by killing the local mosquito population, and health workers have recurrently responded to malarial outbreaks by spraying insecticides such as DDT in affected areas. DDT, sprayed on a normal insect, is a lethal nerve-poison. When it is first sprayed on a local mosquito population, the population goes into abrupt decline. What happens then depends on whether DDT has been sprayed before.
DDT becomes ineffective quickly
DDT-resistant mosquitoes were first detected in India in 1959, and they have increased so rapidly that when a local spray program is begun now, most mosquitoes become resistant in a matter of months rather than years.
DDT becomes ineffective so quickly now because DDT-resistant mosquitoes exist at low frequency in the global mosquito population and, when a local population is sprayed, a strong force of selection in favor of the resistant mosquitoes is immediately created. It is only a matter of time before the resistant mosquitoes take over.
Figure: increase in frequency of pesticide resistance in mosquitos after spraying with DDT. A sample of mosquitos was captured at each time indicated and the number that were killed by a standard dose of DDT (4 % DDT for 1 hour) in the laboratory was measured. From Curtis et al. (1978).
The response may be : ‘No one told us’ or ‘Who knew ?’
_____________________________________________________
Sad but true.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.