Noise Pollution
It affects our lives
Most of us are aware of the impact we humans have made on our environment. We see it and read it on the news almost daily. Most of what is culturally discussed is broadly captured under the umbrella of pollution. When we think of pollution, commonly we think of waste, carbon emissions, and plastics being dumped in our oceans. While all of that is pollution, how often do you think about sound as pollution?
If you have ever had the opportunity to go hiking or camping you have heard what our world actually sounds like. It is quiet, relaxing, and soothing. Birds, wind, and water are the most commonly heard sounds when you foray into the wild. But when you get back to your city or suburbs the noise rushes back in. You become hyper aware of it, well, for some time. We humans adjust to most noise because that noise powers our luxuries. The noise we have become accustomed to is the sound of engines, air conditioning, and electricity. To us, these are merely sounds, barely noise.
Most of my life I have mainly lived in the suburbs. Originally, in Brooklyn, then South Florida, now I am living in Portland, OR. I don’t live downtown, but I do live on a busy corner. Since living here I have become hyper aware of noise. Noise on this corner sounds like loud cars, industrial trucks, yelling teenagers, and loud music. I have great sound insulation in my apartment, but when I do decide to open my windows it gets much louder. I cannot sleep with my windows open at all – there is a bus stop 10 feet from my bedroom window that stops way too often.
Living here, at this point and time in my life is a choice. It’s a tradeoff of being close to great food, coffee shops, and nature trails. I am within walking or biking distance of almost everything I need or want. This is exactly what I was aiming for. But what about the people that don’t have a choice or the animals that are forced to hear our noise?
Firstly, regardless of the type of creature, noise is harmful. Noise in short, infrequent bursts is nothing to worry about. But if that noise is above 70dB and/or consistent, that is where it becomes unhealthy. A lot of us can close a window or change locations to evade persistent noise, but some of us can’t. If you don’t have air conditioning, how can you evade the noise on a hot summer day? If you live in an older building, with bad window seals, closing a window won’t even provide much reprieve.
What are the effects of noise exposure? The most common issue is Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). This in itself is bad enough, but there are also possibilities of high blood pressure, heart disease, stress, and loss of sleep. We as humans have created the things that are effecting us directly, like most things – we create our own destruction. But what about the creatures that are merely bystanders?
The majority of animals depend on sound to survive. Sound is the way a lot of animals find food, locate mates, or find their way back home to their nests and families. Some even use sound to evade predators. This means that when we build our concrete cities and dry wall palaces on their property, not only are we displacing them, but we are also affecting their day-to-day lives.
This gets even more apparent in the ocean. Ocean creatures are most affected by our sounds. Our shipping boats, pleasure crafts, mining for oil and gas, and even our wind turbines impact their communication. Since sound travels 4.5 times faster and 60 times further in water, this exacerbates the situation even more. Most sea creatures use some form of echolocation to communicate and in some cases, to see. When we constantly barrage their environment with sounds we are diluting or stopping that communication. This means sea creatures are being displaced from their families, unable to follow mating patterns, or are directly hurt from the noise. See this article for a great breakdown of our impact on ocean creatures.
Imagine that you were walking home after hunting for your family and a loud noise made you lose your way. Imagine how that could impact you and your family. That is what we do to creatures when we pollute their world.
So how do we change, what do we change? Well, there is a lot that we can do.
Some of it will need to be accomplished by the government and other authorities. Setting noise guidelines and policing them. Limiting the dB output for legacy petrol cars. Move up the deadlines for the electrification of new cars. Lower the max dBs of sirens on emergency vehicles. Stop adding clean energy collection tools to areas that will affect wildlife (such as wind turbines in the ocean). And so much more.
What can you do? Don’t be obnoxiously loud when passing by someone’s home. Don’t modify your car to make it exceptionally loud. Fix the leaky exhaust on your older car. Play your music lower at traffic lights. Simply put, be cognizant of your actions.
We as humans can do a lot and we should, as we are the ones causing the destruction. Take little steps. I know it seems futile, but everything that matters does. Most importantly, think of the creatures that are being impacted by our choices, make their lives better. We need to make this world quieter, for all of us.
Shoutout to Luiza for a late night response to this weeks thread. She also feels the impact of noise – the bad and good. It keeps her up at night, but also brings her joy. She mentions that her local restaurants have live music and jazz presentations that flow into her bedroom window. It provides her a “cheerful reset mid-week”.