Noise Pollution

As many as 10 million Americans today have lost part of their hearing because of our noisy lives. People who work at airports seem especially at risk: One study suggests that more than half the people working near runways suffer some hearing loss. Noise pollution tends to be just as much a problem in other countries as in the United States. For example, one scientist studied people who worked in a paper mill in India. Noise levels ranged between 80-100 dB all day. More than one-third of the workers showed some hearing loss. In Germany, citizens and companies spend nearly four billion dollars a year correcting hearing problems.

Noise pollution can also cause distress in life forms other than human. For example, sudden loud noises can wake hibernating animals. This, in turn, raises their metabolic rates and can cause them to consume fat reserves they need to survive through to spring.

Sounds produced by humans can also interfere with the ability of animals to communicate. Such interference can inhibit an animal's ability to protect itself, to find food, and to live a normal life. For example, ships emit low-frequency sounds that interfere with whale communications. Other human noises can frighten whales away from their normal migration routes. In the desert, kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) exposed to the roar of a dune buggy lose their ability to hear snakes approaching. Japanese quail (Coturnix Coturnix Japonica) have to call much louder than usual when they live in a noisy environment. Sooty terns (Sterna fuscata) have been observed to abandon their nests when jets create sonic booms. Intense bursts of noise have also caused condors (Gymnogyps californianus) to abandon their nests.