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noise and the effects of it
Our Worst Form of Pollution Of all forms of pollution, noise is perhaps the most inescapable for the urban dweller. It pursues him into the privacy of his home, tails him on the street and quite often is an accompaniment of his labour. We do not begin to know the price we pay in impaired hearing, insapping strength and energy, in hostilities and nervous tension. But scientists report that, when animals are made to listen to noise, 'they grow sullen, unresponsive, erratic or violent'. May not the same be true of us? It is true that tolerance of noise varies with culture and conditioning. A Swede might not be comfortable in Naples. A farmer might find a steel plant utterly intolerable. Some people seek out noise, as is evidenced by rock music concerts, where the levels have been found to be clearly dangerous. Others find the sounds of the city andthe market place sheer music. Still others encase themselves in sound to protect against sound, thus creating more noise. But almost all would agree that the noise of jets in take-off, the air hammer digging up streets, the ummuffled sports car or motor-cycle, the roar of twenty-ton diesel trucks are an intolerable burden on our ears and our whole nervous systems. The lack of discriminate planning which has put airports near central cities and has intermingled industrial and residential zones has caused much of the trouble. Here we seem to be learning. But the prospect of sonic booms remains, and with it the danger that - apart from their impact on man - some small animals and insects which rely on their delicate hearing for survival will be badly affected. Only recently has the attention been focused seriously on the technology of noise suppression or termination and the design of strict and enforceable regulations. Much can be done to baffle unavoidable noise. Building codes can require sound-proffing in public places, and builders who construct paper-thin inner walls and ceilings can be penalized. In some countries, successful battles have, happily, been fought and won to check the continuous playing of canned music to captive audiences, and in some parks and playgrounds private noise is regulated. But in the last analysis only self-discipline and respect for one's neighbours can lessen the blare of late- night radio ot the wailing of transistors on public lakes and bleaches. This whole area of the electronic reproduction of sound profoundly illustrates the double-edged quality of so much of man's invention of technology. |
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This intel was contributed by SAHM30
SAHM30
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May, 2012
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