Noise pollution ranks near air pollution as a policy-relevant harm

Evidence

Noise that may be defined also as “a sound that creates problems” has received growing attention during the last decennia, becoming a very popular theme in soundscape and acoustic ecology. The effects of noise pollution on human societies are numerous, pervasive, persistent, and medically and social relevant (Goines and Hagler 2007). Noise produces tangible (economic) and intangible (well-being) losses. Noise interferes with communication, recreation, concentration, and sleeping. Following airborne pollution, noise represents a non-secondary factor that should enter the political agenda of decision makers. Homes, yards, public spaces, cars, theaters, restaurants, parks, arenas, beaches, and mountain ridges: there are no spaces that can be subjected to unwanted noise pollution. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1467

Categorization

• DEFINE: Gives the alternate working definition of noise as ‘a sound that creates problems’.
• XREF: connects to: Noise pollution inflicts a broad set of measurable health harms — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1031; WHO lists at least seven health harms from prolonged noise exposure — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1536; Low-frequency urban noise that meters underestimate may harm health most — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 1499 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• WHO lists at least seven health harms from prolonged noise exposure #expands (0.85) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1536
• Ordinary daily urban ambient noise levels correlate with heart disease risk #expands (0.85) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 185
• Low-frequency urban noise that meters underestimate may harm health most #corroborates (0.80) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1499
• Noise pollution is excluded from global environmental rankings for lack of data #qualifies (0.80) — Gordon Hempton, John Grossmann, One Square Inch of Silence- One Man’s…, 1627
• Anthropogenic sound grows dominant and damages animal and human health #corroborates (0.80) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 121
• Noise combines measurable harm with subjective disturbance #expands (0.78)
• Chronic toxic noise exposure is a widespread, unrecognized pandemic in developed nations #corroborates (0.75) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 43