Scientist Disagrees With Gloomy Outlook
On Man and Ecology
A highly Interesting article, "The Eight Surprises or has
the world gone to Hell?’’, which purports to eliminate
many fallacies concerning the earth’s ecology, has come
to our attention. The author is John J. McKetta, Depart
ment of Chemical Engineering of the University of Texas
and Chairman of the National Air Quality Commission.
Although very technical, excerpts follow;
“From what we read and hear it would seem that we are
on the edge of impending doom. A scientific evaluation of
the evidence does not support this conclusion. Of course
we have some undesirable problems attributed to
technological activities. The solution of these problems
will require a technical understanding of their nature not
through emotion. They cannot be solved unless properly
identified, which will require more technically trained
people - not less. I agree, as Thomas Jefferson did, that if
the public is properly informed, the people will make wise
decisions. The public has not been getting all of the facts
on matters relating to ecology.
It bothers me that there are so many purveyors of
gloom who talk about the hopelessness of our future...
We’re all deeply concerned about reports of the
destruction of our environment as a result of technological
recklessness, overpopulation, and the lack of con
sideration to the preservation of nature. As Chairman of
the National Air Quality Commission I have to read great
amounts of technical literature in this area. I’ve turned up
a lot of evidence that I’d like to'share with you...
1- Why Is The Oxygen
Disappearing???
My first surprise concerns the air we breathe. You have
been reading that we are seriously depleting the oxygen in
the atmosphere and replacing it with toxic substances
such as carbon monoxide.
Throughout my formal education I have always been
taught that oxygen in our atmosphere is supplied by green
plants using the process of photosynthesis...
Surprise number one is that most of the oxygen in the
atmosphere doesn’t come from photosynthesis. The
evidence is now overwhelming that photosynthesis is just
inadequate to have produced the amount of oxygen that is
present in our atmosphere. . .
The significance of this information is that the supply of
oxygen in the atmosphere is virtually unlimited.. .If all
the organic material on earth oxidized, it would reduce
the atmospheric concentration of oxygen by less than one
percent. We can forget the depletion of oxygen in the
atmosphere and get on with the solution of more serious
problems.
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As you know, the most toxic component of automobile
exhaust is carbon monoxide.. . Most of this comes from
automobiles. . . Since the ratio of automobiles in the
northern and southern hemisphere is 9:1 respectively, it
was expected that the northern hemisphere would have a
much higher concentration of atmospheric carbon
monoxide. The true measurements show, however that
there is no difference in CO amounts between the
hemispheres and that the ovprall. concentration in the air
is not increasing at all. In fact they’ve found higher
concentrations of CO over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
than over land???
Early in 1971 scientists at the Standford Research In
stitute in Palo Alto disclosed that they had done some
experiments in smog chambers containing soil. . . They
quickly identified the organisms responsible for CO
removal to be fungi of the aspergilus (bread mold and
pencillin types). These organisms, on a world-wide basis,
are using all of the 270 million tons of the CO made by man
for their own metabolism, thus enriching the soils of the
forest and the fields.
This does not say carbon monoxide is any less toxic. It
does say that, in spite of man’s activities, carbon
monoxide will never build up in the atmosphere to a
dangerous level except on a localized basis...
Here lies surprise number two for you - do you know that
the CO content of cigarette smoke is 42,000 ppm? The CO
concentration in practically any smoke filled room
grossly exceeds the safety standards we allow in our
laboratories. . .
In the broad expanse of our natural air, CO levels are
totally safe for human beings.
3. Oxides of Nitrogen
Will Choke Us!
... Oxides of nitrogen are definitely problems in places
where temperature inversions trap the air.
But we’ve all known for many years that nature, in
addition to man, also produced oxides of nitrogen. The
number three surprise (and shock) is that most of the
oxides of nitrogen come from nature. . .
The significance of this is that even if we are 100 percent
successful in our removal of the oxides of nitrogen from
combustion gases, we will still have more than 99 percent
left in the atmosphere which is produced by nature.
Sometimes I think nature laughs at us.
4. The Death Of
Lake Erie
We’ve all read for some time that Lake Erie is dead. It’s
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2. Carbon Monoxide Will
Kill Us All!
Lancaster Farming, Saturday. March 1,1975
true tnnt... the oxygen content at the bottom of the lake is
decreasing. This is called eutrophication. The blame has
been placed on phosphates as the cause of this situation...
In fact for several years phosphate detergents were taken
off the market. . .
Now let's look at the scientific evidence that I’ve been
able to find on the subject. The study shows that the cause
of the eutrophication of Lake Eric has not been properly
defined. This evidence suggests that if we totally stopped
using phosphate detergents it would have no effect
whatever on the eutrophication of take Eric...
Our garbage disposal units do far more to pollute I<akc
Eric than do the phosphate detergents. If we put in the
proper sewage treatment facilities, the lake will sparkle
blue again in a very few years.
5. DDT Is The Worst Thing
That Ever Happened
To Us???
DDT and other chlorinated compounds are supposedly
endangering the lives of mankind and eliminating some
bird species by the thinning of the egg shells of birds. . .
From the readings that I have done, the experiments were
conducted in such a manner that positive conclusions
could not be drawn from them. Even if it is true, it’s quite
possible that the desirable properties of DDT so greatly
outnumber the undesirable ones that it might prove to be a
serious mistake to ban entirely this remarkable chemical.
Many of you heard Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, the Nobel
Peace prize winner. He is opposed to the banning of DDT.
Obviously he is a competent scientist. He won the Nobel
prize because he was able to develop a new strain of wheat
that can double the food production per acre anywhere in
the world that it is grown.
Dr. Borlaug said “If DDT is banned by the United
States, I have wasted my life’s work... Without DDT and
other important agricultural chemicals, our goals are
simply unattainable. . . ”
According to the World Health Organization, malaria
fatalities alone dropped from four million a year in the
1930’s to less than one million per year in 1968... Surprise
number five is that it has been estimated that 100 million
human beings who would have died of these afflictions are
alive today because of DDT. Incidentally, recent tests
indicate that the thinning of bird egg shells may have been
caused by mercury compounds rather than DDT! Oh
hum!
Many people feel that mankind is responsible for the
disappearance of the animal species... About 50 species
are expected to disappear this century. It is also true that
50 species became extinct last century and 50 species the
century before that and so on. . . Animals come and
animals disappear. This is the essence of evolution as Mr.
Darwin pointed out many years ago. Mankind is a
I Continued on Page 64]
PA PH:
6. We’re Killing Off
Too Many Species!
653-1451
HOW FOR THE/TT\
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53