Noise Pollution

As late as the 1950s, most of the sounds on this planet were probably still of natural origin rather than derived from technological sources. Today, however, the opposite appears to be true.

Cars, trucks, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws, power drills, television, radio, video games, computers... the list of noise makers in our modern life is almost endless, and our world keeps getting noisier. Noise—which can be defined as unwanted sound waves that were not present in the pre-modern electromagnetic spectrum—is one of the most common forms of pollution, one that can easily damage the hearing and general health of people and animals.