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the gravity of subjects being discussed:
"Civilization faces a crisis ... the
question is whether man can livc to–
gether in the numbers that make culture
possiblc, without destroying the cond i–
tions of his existence. With the very
SURVIVAL
of the species at stakc, noth–
iog
is more important than to movc
quickly
f
rom thought to action...."
As a tragic example of man's
thoughtlcssness, the other side of thc
poster carried a huge picture of a bird
with this caption in bold letters:
"THE BROWN PELlCAN IS DYING."
"At most, five young pelicans hatched
this year out of 1200 nests in Califor–
nta.
"All other eggs broke beforc hatch–
ing, with DDT concentrations of up to
2500 parts per million in the thinnest–
shelled eggs.
"Thc Brown Pelican will undoubt–
edly disappear as a brceding bird in Cal–
ifornia.
"No onc wants the Brown Pelican to
perish.
"He does not pollute.
"He does not slaughter other species.
"He docs not gather together in num-
bers that nature caonot support.
"He is a victim of mao - and a
warning, that
man
himself
ma)
pensh,
by hís
ou·n ignorance."
The plight of the Brown Pelican is a
danger signa! that something is drasti–
cally wrong on the Earth!
Why Such Massive Pollution?
Why has man rather suddenl}'
within the last decade - found himsclf
tn
this environmental predicament?
Who or what is at fault?
During thc: UNESCO confcrencc,
Rogc:r Rcvelle of the Harvard Center
for Population Studies gave the answer.
He said, "Much of our environmental
deterioration
is
the direct or indircct rc–
sult of advances in technology."
Bcfore the modero era of aclvanccd
technology, "Spaceship Earth" sec:mcd
to
be
able to absorb man's insults -
cven after sorne terrible abuse. But now,
man has acquired such additional capac–
it}' to tampcr with his environment that
he threatens to destroy it.
Reported biologist Dr. Barry Com–
moner: "With tragic perversity we have
linked much of our productive economy
to precisely those fcalurcs of technology
which are ecologically dcstructive."
What are sorne of thc:sc features of
technology which severely strain the
fincly tuned ecological balance of our
globe?
To name but a few: Thc interna!
combustion engine, synthetic pesticides,
inorgaoic nitrogen
f
ertilizer, plastics,
man-made radio-isotopes.
Twentieth-century man has com–
mitted himself to a world of increasing
Almosy
-
UNESCO
l'hoto
technology - more automobilcs, more
elcctrical power, more gadgctry, more
food from dcpleted soil.
Along with this, modern man has
made a tragic assumption. He has felt it
his dcstiny to manipulate, control, and
whcre he has deemed necessacy, drasti–
cally alter his environment; to exploit
naturc and the earth's abundant riches,
rather than to livc in harmony with thc
laws that govern the intricate ecological
balance of our globe.
The modero matcrialistic way of Jifc