We live with lots of noise. What's that doing to us?
Oct 6, 2024
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Bojan Furst, a writer and photographer from St. John's, Newfoundland, delves into the pervasive presence of noise in our lives and its profound effects. He discusses how our constant exposure to urban sounds impacts communication, not just among humans but also for marine life, particularly during quieter periods like the COVID lockdowns. Bojan shares insights into the health risks of noise pollution, social justice issues it raises, and how different countries are tackling noise regulation, highlighting successful strategies from places like Paris.
Continuous exposure to urban ambient noise is linked to serious health risks, including heart disease and stroke.
The pandemic lockdown demonstrated how reduced noise levels could positively affect both human well-being and wildlife communication.
Deep dives
The Impact of Ambient Noise on Urban Life
Urban environments are filled with ambient noise, which includes common sounds such as traffic, construction, and everyday activities. This continuous exposure often goes unnoticed, as people become skilled at tuning out these background sounds. However, research reveals that this persistent noise can have significant long-term health effects, including increased risks of heart disease and stroke. The dramatic reduction in ambient noise during the pandemic lockdowns provided unique data to study these effects and understand how quiet environments may benefit both humans and wildlife.
Anthropogenic Noise and Its Consequences
Anthropogenic noise refers to sound produced by human activities that disrupt natural environments, affecting both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Activities such as shipping, construction, and seismic testing have led to a significant increase in background noise, with detrimental impacts on wildlife communication and behavior. The pandemic created an unprecedented opportunity to observe the natural environment when much of this noise was reduced, allowing researchers to study its effects on various species, such as humpback whales, which altered their vocalizations in quieter conditions. Understanding anthropogenic noise provides insight into both human health implications and the broader ecological consequences of our noisy world.
The Importance of Noise Regulation and Social Equity
Regulating noise levels in urban areas is crucial for mitigating health risks that disproportionately affect lower-income communities subject to higher noise pollution. Municipal bylaws exist, but they are often poorly enforced across different regions, leaving significant gaps in noise management. In contrast, some European countries have implemented comprehensive noise regulations, including designated quiet times and mandatory noise mapping. This disparity highlights the need for better governance of noise pollution and raises questions about social justice, as individuals in noisier areas face compounded health challenges stemming from both environmental and socioeconomic factors.
For this weekend's look back, we're revisiting an episode from June 2023 about the level of noise we've become accustomed to in our daily lives, and the effect it's having on us.
You know how sometimes you notice that it's eerily quiet? That's because we're so accustomed to the background noise of life in a city of any size, that sudden silence catches our attention. From cars and trucks to neighbours and kids, modern appliances to incessant TV, music or videos, we rarely have a silent waking moment.
New research is beginning to discover exactly what that's doing to us, and the results are fascinating. It's not just us, either. When the world's water traffic mostly stopped during the first month of Covid lockdowns, the absence of the usual noise actually changed the way some sea creatures communicate... so what does a noisy world do to us all?