Noise—A Modern Nuisance
BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN BRITAIN
“One of life’s great stressors.”—Makis Tsapogas, adviser to the World Health Organization.
“America’s most pervasive pollutant.”—The Boston Sunday Globe, U.S.A.
“The worst pollutant of our time.”—Daily Express, London, England.
YOU can’t see, smell, taste, or touch it. NOISE, the bane of modern urban life, now pollutes the countryside.
One American naturalist who spent some 16 years recording the sounds of nature has found his task increasingly difficult. In 1984 he studied 21 sites in the state of Washington, U.S.A., that were noise free for 15 minutes or more. Five years later, only three remained.
For many of the world’s inhabitants, finding three noise-free places is a challenge. In Japan, a nationwide report for 1991 stated that noise provoked more complaints than any other form of pollution. Indeed, The Times of London aptly describes noise as “the greatest scourge of contemporary life.” From the irritatingly persistent bark of a dog to the blasting of a neighbor’s stereo or the insistent blare of a car burglar-alarm or radio, noise has become the norm. Yet, noise pollution is not new. It has a long history.
Not a New Problem
To prevent traffic congestion, Julius Caesar banned wheeled traffic from the center of Rome during the day. Sadly for him and his fellow Romans, the decree created intense noise pollution at night, “with wood or iron-shod cartwheels rumbling over the stone paving blocks.” (The City in History, by Lewis Mumford) More than a century later, the poet Juvenal complained that noise condemned Romans to everlasting insomnia.
By the 16th century, England’s capital, London, had become a bustling metropolis. “The first thing that must have struck most visitors,” writes Alison Plowden, author of Elizabethan England, “was the din: the clatter and hammering from a thousand workshops, the rumble and squeak of cart-wheels, the lowing of cattle being driven to market, the raucous cries of street vendors proclaiming their wares.”
The 18th century heralded the industrial revolution. Now the effects of mechanical noise became apparent as factory workers suffered damage to their hearing. But even city dwellers who did not live near factories complained of increasing disturbance. Historian Thomas Carlyle took refuge in a “well-deafened room” on the roof of his London house to avoid crowing cocks, neighbors’ pianos, and the nearby street traffic. The Times reports: “It didn’t work.” Why? “He was then maddened by a new battery of noises, including river hooters and railway whistles”!
A Widespread Modern Pollutant
Today noise protesters focus on airports as airlines vigorously resist attempts to legislate against noise pollution. When Manchester airport in England imposed automatic fines each time the supersonic Concorde took off, were these effective? No. One Concorde captain admitted that the plane was noisy but that if it took off with a lighter load of fuel to reduce the noise level, it would not reach Toronto or New York nonstop.
Preventing road traffic noise is equally problematic. In Germany, for example, studies reveal that this type of pollution disturbs 64 percent of the population. And it is a growing problem, reportedly one thousand times greater than before society became motorized. A report from Greece states that “Athens is one of the noisiest cities in Europe and the din is so infernal it is damaging Athenians’ health.” Likewise, Japan’s Environmental Agency notes a worsening trend in traffic noise and attributes this to continued increases in automobile use. At low speeds a car’s engine is the main source of noise, but above 40 miles [60 km] per hour, tires make the most noise.
The greatest cause of noise complaints in Britain is domestic noise. In 1996, Britain’s Chartered Institute of Environmental Health noted a 10-percent rise in complaints about noisy neighbors. A spokeswoman for the institute commented: “It is hard to explain. One factor may be that the pressure of people’s working lives is leading them to make higher demands for peace and quiet at home.” Two thirds of all the complaints lodged in Britain during 1994 involved late-night music and noisy car engines, alarms, and horns. But what of the estimated 70 percent of noise-pollution victims who make no complaint for fear of reprisals? The problem is truly pervasive.
As a result of the widespread noise nuisance, agencies that aim to protect the environment press for laws to curb noise pollution. In the United States, for example, some communities have adopted local regulations to limit the use of power landscaping tools. In Britain, a new Noise Act targets noisy neighbors and authorizes on-the-spot fines for violations between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Local authorities even have the power to confiscate offending stereo equipment. Yet, noise persists.
With noise pollution truly a growing problem, you may well wonder what you as a victim can do. But, also, how can you avoid causing noise? Will there ever be lasting peace and quiet? Read the following articles for answers.