Noise Pollution in US National Parks.
Natural areas, parks, wildlife preserves those little patches of green space are quiet areas. Places where we can just sit and think. Or are they? Unfortunately, local and national parks are becoming louder and more chaotic because of noise pollution. Contact Hearing Group for help with noise protection and remember, the best protection for your hearing is an updated hearing evaluation.
Natural places and noise
Parks used to be the one place to go for peace and quiet. But honking horns, jets, and other noise are reducing the peaceful aspects of our parks. This reality has even been studied by researchers from Colorado State University.
They found that 63% of protected areas in the United States are subject to significant human-caused noise. The protected natural areas range from national parks that span millions of acres to local parks. Rachel Buxton, one of the authors, says these are areas people go for respite from the noise and stress of modern life. Unfortunately, we are finding that a good percentage of them experience levels of noise pollution. In general, national parks and wilderness areas tended to be quieter. But some state and federal lands that allow logging, mining, and oil and gas extraction are quite noisy.
Noise encroachment
In more than 60% of parks and other protected areas, artificial noise is so intrusive. A sound you should be able to hear from 100 feet away, can only be heard from 50 feet away. In 21% of these areas, there are spots where a sound normally audible from 100 feet away is only audible from 10 feet away!
According to the study, there were areas that had shockingly high levels of artificial noise. These have the potential to harm your hearing health. The excess noise is more damaging than just irritating humans. For plants and animals, the noise can disrupt whole colonies. Even some plants need silence for seed spreading. Loud car engines and the blasting noise of machinery scare away the animals that do that job.
Traffic noise a problem
The biggest noise culprits are cars and trucks as well as aircraft noise. Also, equipment used in the extraction of gas and oil. As part of the study, researchers measured sound levels at nearly 5,000 different sites in various natural areas. They gathered the data including elements such as elevation and distance from roads. This was used to create a formula that predicts both human and natural sound levels. This formula was then applied to protected areas from neighborhood parks to huge wildlife preserves. It was gauging the extent of noise pollution.
The results are not encouraging. In fact, researchers say noise pollution is in the pervasive category. Even in 12% of the wildlife areas where they restrict traffic, there is significant noise pollution. In the majority of natural areas, there was enough noise infiltration to irritate visitors as well as affect bird song predators’ ability to find prey and the prey’s ability to hear predators. The sound intrusion was found to be 10 decibels above background sound which is considered significant noise. So, a bird whose song would normally travel about 100 meters, would have its melody stifled to a 10-meter radius because of the noise. The noise confuses predators, those trying to escape predators and animals trying to find a mate or communicate with a mate.
News not all bad
Researchers did find there were intact and unspoiled areas where the noise was not yet a problem. They said the study should act as a warning that unspoiled areas need to be protected and maintained as natural soundscapes.
Many protected areas are using noise-reducing strategies such as operating shuttles to reduce incoming traffic and concentrating heavy traffic along highway noise corridors to isolate sound in the interior of an area. Researchers also built a noise map with their data, so officials can keep a closer eye on some of the areas that are experiencing the greatest noise encroachment.
Visit Us at Hearing Group
We must be aware of noise pollution both urban and otherwise, that might harm our hearing. A regular hearing test is the best way to keep tabs on your hearing health. Contact the Hearing Group and schedule a test today.