"No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored. The question that has now urgently presented itself is whether it is either wise or responsible to attack the problem by methods that are rapidly making it worse. The world has heard much of the triumphant war against disease through the control of insect vectors of infection, but it has heard little of the other side of the story – the defeats, the short-lived triumphs that now strongly support the alarming view that the insect enemy has been made actually stronger by our efforts. Even worse, we may have destroyed our very means of fighting."

Today, as Carson predicted, we live in an environment with far less habitat and as a result fewer predators and increasingly weakened coastlines. Additionally, we are in the throes of climate change. To meet future challenges, we need a revised and science-based approach to develop radical habitat restoration programs that will protect our coastlines and wetlands, which serve as buffer zones between us and sea level-rise.