“Is Silence Going Extinct?”, NYT Magazine, 15/3. This article is about a much-overlooked negative aspect of modern life: noise pollution. It is difficult to find anywhere in the world that is free of human-made sounds – mainly that of various engines. This has deleterious effects on both wildlife and humans. Birds can’t hear their songs and have to adjust these or perish. Human noise pollution is also plaguing the oceans and deafening the various creatures there.
Sadly, the issue is not taken seriously by many – an article in io9, “All the noise we’re making is driving birds crazy”, takes a humorous or mocking tone, as do the more inane comments.
The main offending cause of sounds are the hundreds of mechanical devices used – engines of all sorts, air conditioners, music blared out from speakers. Unlike the sounds of nature (the wind, the rustling of leaves and swishing of grass, birdsong, burbling rivers, animal and insect noises), mechanical sounds are harsh and ugly and are undoubtedly a major contributor to stress and ill-health; a daily barrage upon the senses. The increasing aggression in society could in part be aggrevated by noise pollution.
This noise is, of course, amplified in urban areas. I live in a suburb of Melbourne and the noise is almost constant – mainly from vehicles (engines, exhausts, and screeching tyres from idiot hoons – young men in fast cars) and overhead aircraft. In summer, the hum of the rooftop evaporative coolers that have sprung up on nearby houses like ugly toadstools is almost deafening, drowning out birds in the garden. The only time of relative quiet is in the early morning hours (around 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.) but there is still traffic around. In the actual city it would be even worse – yet another reason I have no desire to live in apartment towers.
Entering a shopping center (or mall, to use the American definition) is to be overwhelmed by a cacophony of noise and light from all directions – a visual and aural assault. At times I feel like shutting down, so unpleasant is the experience.
Light pollution is also a growing intrusion everywhere. Barely any stars are visible from where I am – I have never really seen the Milky Way in its full glory (I have no means to travel). Light blasts one’s retinas from street lights, car headlights, shopping centers, decorative lighting around houses. There seems to be a mania in society to light up the night and stay up all night.
