Text 5. Noise Pollution Control.

 

Like water and air pollution, noise pollution too needs to be controlled. To bring down noise levels, one has to first identify the sources of noise. Considering the ill effects of noise, some preventive steps need to be taken to reduce noise levels at the source. Here are some tips to limit the noise:

· People living in the heart of city or near the airport, often have to bear the brunt of high noise levels. To decrease noise, one can install dual-paned windows. Offices, too can use windows to curb noise levels. Soundproofing is another alternative that can be looked at to reduce excessive sound levels.

· Use of music systems and television sets with high volumes can cause noise pollution at home. Instead, using these appliances with the volume kept at a moderate level is a better option.

· An effective way to manage noise would be to wear ear protection while working in noisy conditions. Animals should be moved to some other place, away from the noise source, thereby decreasing their noise exposure time.

· Vehicles and factory machines need to be maintained properly and checked from time to time. Lack of maintenance will not only increase noise levels, but also decrease the efficiency of these machines.

Technology to mitigateor remove noise can be applied as follows:

There are a variety of strategies for mitigating roadway noise including: use of noise barriers, limitation of vehicle speeds, alteration of roadway surface texture, limitation of heavy vehicles, use of traffic controls that smooth vehicle flow to reduce braking and acceleration, and tire design. An important factor in applying these strategies is a computer model for roadway noise, that is capable of addressing local topography, meteorology, traffic operations and hypothetical mitigation. Costs of building-in mitigation can be modest, provided these solutions are sought in the planning stage of a roadway project.

Aircraft noise can be reduced to some extent by design of quieter jet engines, which was pursued vigorously in the 1970s and 1980s. This strategy has brought limited but noticeable reduction of urban sound levels. Reconsideration of operations, such as altering flight paths and time of day runway use, have demonstrated benefits for residential populations near airports. FAA sponsored residential retrofit (insulation) programs initiated in the 1970s has also enjoyed success in reducing interior residential noise in thousands of residences across the United States.

Exposure of workers to Industrial noise has been addressed since the 1930s. Changes include redesign of industrial equipment, shock mounting assemblies and physical barriers in the workplace.

Although most developed nations have government agencies responsible for the protection of the environment, no nation has a single body that regulates noise pollution. In the United States, regulation of noise pollution was stripped from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed on the individual states in the early 1980's. Although two noise-control bills passed by the EPA are still in effect, the agency can no longer form relevant legislation. In the United States, Canada, Europe, and most other developed parts of the world, different types of noise are managed by agencies responsible for the source of the noise. Transportation noise is usually regulated by the relevant transportation ministry, health-related work noise is often regulated by health ministries and worker's unions, and entertainment noise such as loud music is a criminal offense in many areas. As the bodies responsible for noise pollution reduction usually view noise as an annoyance rather than a problem, and reducing that noise often hurts the industry financially, little is currently being done to reduce noise pollution in developed countries.

If you can’t eliminate noise from your environment, you can actually create a healthier environment by replacing stress-inducing environmental sounds with more pleasing ones. For example, you can reduce the impact of airport or city noise with a white noise machine or ‘sound spa’. They play sounds ranging from waterfalls to rain to babbling brooks to basic static, and these sounds mask the more jarring environmental noises that can distract you or negatively affect your sleep. They can also make it easier to meditate or practice visualization techniques.

Additionally, you can drown out distracting sounds from a noisy office environment or neighborhood with music from your iPod or stereo and enjoy the stress management and health benefits of music while lessening the impact of the other noise. This can also improve your mood, boost your immunity, calm your physiology, or energize you. While you’re really trading some sounds for others, the sounds of nature or music can be more soothing and better for your health.

After you read Text 5. Answer these questions:

1. What are the tips to limit the noise given in the text?

2. What are the strategies for reducing roadway and aircraft noise?

3. Whom are the noise pollution problems regulated by?

4. How can you reduce the impact of airport or city noise?

5. Can you give some more ideas to solve the problem?

 

Fast Facts

 

Pesticides:

· In the US, pesticides poison 110,000 people each year. More than one-third of calls to animal poison control centers result from pets exposed to pesticides.

· The volatile organic compounds (including pesticides) found indoors are believe to cause 3,000 cases of cancer a year in the US.

· According to the New York State Attorney General’s office, 95 percent of the pesticides used on residential lawns are considered probable carcinogens by the EPA.

· 2,4-D—a component of Agent Orange—is used in about 1,500 lawn care products.

Quantifying noise pollution:

· Noise intensity is measured in decibel units. The decibel scale is logarithmic; each 10-decibel increase represents a tenfold increase in noise intensity. Human perception of loudness also conforms to a logarithmic scale; a 10-decibel increase is perceived as roughly a doubling of loudness.

· Above 45 decibels of noise, the average person cannot sleep.

· Above 66 decibels of noise, we are above the threshold deemed safe by the EPA for the workplace or home-life. Some of the health effects include irritability, heartburn, indigestion, ulcers, high blood pressure, and possibly heart disease.

· At 85 decibels we are at risk for hearing loss. (Continuous exposure at lower levels can also lead to hearing loss).

· One burst of noise, as from a passing truck, is known to alter endocrine, neurological, and cardiovascular functions in many individuals.

· Prolonged or frequent exposure to such noise contributes to noise-induced stress and potential mental illness.

· Environmental Protection Agency studies show that sound barriers can cut highway noise levels in half. A reduction in 10 decibels, commonly achieved with sound barriers, has the effect of reducing 50% of unwanted noise.

· Benefits include lessened sleep disturbance, improved ability to enjoy outdoor life, reduced speech interference, stress reduction, reduced risk of hearing impairment and reduction in blood pressure (improved cardiovascular health).

· human-created noise harmful to health or welfare. Transportation vehicles are the worst offenders, with aircraft, railroad stock, trucks, buses, automobiles, and motorcycles all producing excessive noise. Construction equipment, e.g., jackhammers and bulldozers, also produce substantial noise pollution.

· Subjected to 45 decibels of noise, the average person cannot sleep. At 120 decibels the ear registers pain, but hearing damage begins at a much lower level, about 85 decibels. The duration of the exposure is also important. There is evidence that among young Americans hearing sensitivity is decreasing year by year because of exposure to noise, including excessively amplified music.

· Biomusic is a form of experimental music which deals with sounds created or performed by living things. The definition is also sometimes extended to included sounds made by humans in a directly biological way. For instance, music that is created by the brain waves of the composer can also be called biomusic as can music created by the human body without the use of tools or instruments that are not part of the body (singing or vocalizing is usually excluded from this definition).

· Biomusic can be divided into two basic categories: music that is created solely by the animal (or in some cases plant), and music which is based upon animal noises but which is arranged by a human composer.

· Biomusic can take many other forms. These can include the simple amplification of animal sounds, or the creation of music through the fluctuation of electric current in plants. More unusual still is the use of animal notation: music scores created by animals, often in the form of paw prints. Biomusic can also take the form of animals trained to perform specific behaviors as part of a musical performance (birds trained to sing for instance).

· Acoustic ecology, or soundscape ecology, is the relationship, mediated through sound, between living beings and their environment. Acoustic ecology studies started in the late 1960s with R. Murray Schafer and his team at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) as part of the World Soundscape Project.

 

 

Important Terms

A dsorption – The adhesion of one substance to the surface of another.

A quifer – A geologic formation or structure that transmits water in sufficient quantity to supply the needs for a water development; usually saturated sands, gravel, fractures, and cavernous and vesicular rock.

C omposting – A controlled process of degrading organic matter by microorganisms.

C onservation management system (CMS) – A generic term that includes any combination of conservation practices and management that achieves a level of treatment of the five natural resources that satisfies criteria contained in the Field Office Training Guide (FOTG), such as a resource management system or an acceptable management system.

D DT (dd-t) – Short for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. A powerful insecticide that is also poisonous to humans and animals. It remains active in the environment for many years and has been banned in the United States for most uses since 1972 but is still in use in some countries in which malaria is endemic.

D enitrification – The chemical or biochemical reduction of nitrate or nitrite to gaseous nitrogen, either as molecular nitrogen or as an oxide of nitrogen.

D eposition – The accumulation of material dropped because of a slackening movement of the transporting material water or wind.

D iversion – A channel, embankment, or other man-made structure constructed to divert water from one area to another.

E PA – Environmental Protection Agency.

E rosion – Wearing away of the land surface by running water, glaciers, winds, and waves. The term erosion is usually preceded by a definitive term denoting the type or source of erosion such as gully erosion, sheet erosion, or bank erosion.

E utrophication – the process where a waterbody, such as a lake or a soil solution, becomes loaded with dissolved nutrients. This can be natural, but is often due to pollution. Algal blooms can remove oxygen in the water, harming fishlife.

E vaporation – The process by which a liquid is changed to a vapor or gas.

F allow – Allowing cropland to lie idle, either tilled or untilled, during the whole or greater portion of the growing season.

F ertilizer – Any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply elements essential to plant growth.

F ood chain – A graphical representation of the sequence of organisms, each of which uses the next, lower member of the sequence, as a food source. The chain starts with plants or other autotrophs (an organism that satisfies its need for organic food molecules by using the energy of the sun, or of the oxidation of inorganic substances, to convert inorganic molecules into organic molecules. Green plants are autotrophs), which are eaten by herbivores. The herbivores are eaten by carnivores. These are eaten by other carnivores. When any organism dies, it is eaten by tiny microbes (detrivores) and the exchange of energy continues.

H erbicide – A chemical substance designed to kill or inhibit the growth of plants, especially weeds.

I ncineration – The controlled process by which solids, liquid, or gaseous combustible wastes are burned and changed into gases; the residue produced contains little or no combustible material.

I nert – A substance that does not react with other substances under ordinary conditions.

I nfiltration – The penetration of water through the ground surface into subsurface soil or the penetration of water from the soil into sewer or other pipes through defective joints, connections, or manhole walls.

I nsecticide – A pesticide compound specifically used to kill or control the growth of insects.

I rrigation – Application of water to lands for agricultural purposes.

L eachate – Liquids that have percolated through a soil and that contain substances in solution or suspension.

L eaching – The removal from the soil in solution of the more soluble materials by percolating waters.

N utrients – Elements, or compounds, essential as raw materials for organism growth and development, such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.

P asture – Grazing lands planted primarily to introduced or domesticated native forage species that receives periodic renovation and/or cultural treatments such as tillage, fertilization, mowing, weed control, and irrigation. Not in rotation with crops.

P ercolation – The downward movement of water through the soil.

P esticide – Any chemical agent used for control of plant or animal pests. Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, nematocides, and rodenticides.

P ollutant – Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water.

R oot zone – The part of the soil that is, or can be, penetrated by plant roots.

S alinity – The concentration of dissolved solids or salt in water.

S ediment – The product of erosion processes; the solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water, gravity, or ice.

S ludge – The material resulting from chemical treatment of water, coagulation, or sedimentation. Soil profile: A vertical section of the soil from the surface through all its horizons, including C horizons.

S oil water depletion volume – The amount of plant-available water removed from the soil by plants and evaporation from the soil surface.

S urface water – All water whose surface is exposed to the atmosphere.

S uspended sediment – The very fine soil particles that remain in suspension in water for a considerable period of time.

S ustainability, sustainable development – Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs or the health of the planet. Essentially it is about living, working and ordering society in ways which are environmentally "sustainable", encouraging reduction of pollution, re-use of resources, promoting biodiversity etc. The term originally applied to the exploitation of natural resources, where the focus was long-term.

W aste – Material that has no original value or no value for the ordinary or main purpose of manufacture or use; damaged or defective articles of manufacture; or superfluous or rejected matter or refuse.

W atershed – A drainage area or basin in which all land and water areas drain or flow toward a central collector such as a stream, river, or lake at a lower elevation.