Noise Pollution Essay

NOISE POLLUTION

Noise pollution is a type of energy pollution in which very displeasing sound occurs. Noise and sound are two different things. A sound is a kind of vibration which travels through mediums such as air or water- it’s basically something that can be heard. Whereas a noise is a type of sound which is mixed together with other sounds, and it cannot be heard clearly. Some people may think of it as a really irritating and annoying noise coming from any strong and disturbing sound sources. It can be caused by humans, animals, or machines. However, the really serious noise pollution mainly comes from engines, rail noises, automobiles, and car alarms which can affect the human ear- it can cause damage to it and can lead to hearing disabilities. Noise pollution occurs all over the world but it does not only happen in the air, it also happens in other mediums that the sound waves travel through (for example underwater). But to be sincere, noise pollution may occur in various ways: in huge shopping malls, in a classroom, in factories where people produce new items, at a party where there is loud music, lawn mowers may cause a lot of noise, slamming doors/car doors (only if a lot of people do it at the same time) barking dogs or any other animal making loud noises, voices yelling or loud conversations, construction, and most of all: beeping car horns, revving engines, cars, planes, trucks etc.
Noise pollution can affect people in many different ways, and not only to humans, but also to animals. Animals can hear noise 100 times better than humans, so there is a possibility that they can be more affected than humans! For example, it can cause people/animals to have hearing problems. Loudness or sound level is measured in Decibels (dB). The maximum amount of noise to not get hearing problems is 100dB. However, if a person/animal listens to a sound that is up to 100dB for a long period of time, then it will definitely cause hearing damage.
Next are cardiovascular issues. This causes damage to the blood pressure- and your heartbeats can increase- leading to a heart attack (if the noise is extremely loud). Sleep disturbances are also an issue. If a person screams or a loud car alarm occurs while someone’s sleep, it can cause the person to be uncomfortable and increase their intensity. When that happens, the person can no longer work or think on anything after. Mental health problems happens when a person is very anxious or mad and a whole crowd or loud noise occurs. My teacher was once very depressed, and when the class started yelling, screaming, and being crazy she got annoyed and could no longer think. Finally, interferences in verbal communication are when two people are talking, and loud noise is happening in the background- this can lead to confusion and misunderstandings.

Have you ever wondered how life would be wonderful without all the loud noise occurring in the city? In the older days, people had no transportation and machines to be able to get hearing loss, instead they could hear rusting leaves (10 dB) and birds ‘singing’ on the trees. I can imagine how wonderful and peaceful that could be! I’m sure we want to live like that! The only way we can is to eliminate noise pollution! Here are some examples:

· Turn off the TV, you don’t want noise to disturb you while you’re working on something important! (Although I love listening to music while I do my homework, and if I want my work to be well done, I’m going to have to turn the TV off. Well, this is sad. L )

· Avoid indoor noise- go outside if there a lot of noise going on inside, this can lead you to have a headache and faint!

· If the noise is really getting irritating, put some ear protection materials over your ears to protect those tiny hairs!

· Don’t build your living space in the surrounding of the railway, highway etc. Try to surround it with plants and bushes.

· Don’t use your car or motorcycle when there is no actual need for it!

· Listen to soothing music, it will calm you down- try listening to meditating songs.

· N-E-V-E-R watch those scary maze games, they can pop up and scare you to death. MY friend once sent me a link about scary mazes. In the first 5 minutes I watched beautiful trees with wonderful birds singing in the background, rusting leaves and everything was so peaceful. Until it lasted… A huge scary face popped up on the screen, I have to admit, it really freaked me out and I jumped like a cockroach out of my chair!

· People say planting trees is helpful to avoid disturbing noises- plant trees can absorb noise so we should have more of them to diminish noise!

· Increase healing sounds- birds, chimes, bells, music, streams, indoor or outdoor waterfalls or fountains to calm yourself!

· For people who work in the factories or in the noise pollution work places, it’s necessary to wear earphones to protect the ear. They should keep the factory hall opened (if this is possible) etc…

These are some things that we can do to diminish the noise pollution level, and it sounds really easy, doesn’t it? However, what can science do to solve this widely spread problem? Unfortunately, not a lot because, in contrast to air or water pollution in which we can locate the source, noise pollution comes from many different sources, so it might be hard to handle it. It also doesn’t have obvious and direct influences such as for example radioactive particles from the air, so there is no big need for prevention (except if the sound isn’t too loud at that moment).

Now I will talk about helping a person with hearing loss. Do you have a friend who has hearing problems? If you do, you can take him/her to a quiet room where there is no music at all- and where you can talk to in peace. Face the person and talk to him/her clearly without chewing gum, and you cannot mumble often otherwise he won’t be able to understand you. You should use facial expressions to make the person understand what you’re saying better. Also, if needed, you should reword your statement, you never know if the person understood you! You should be patient and stay relaxed! I also think that the person with hearing disabilities use visual signs much more than sound, so, for example, when a person rings a bell next to the door, there should be a light next to the deaf person so that he knows that someone wants to go in. There should also be a bigger number of channels on TV with titled programs so that the person with hearing problems can understand better and quicker- if he doesn’t know how to read, then there should be a person who will use the alphabet for impaired people.

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