Whenever we talk about pollution, we are more concerned with air pollution, and water pollution but noise pollution is not widely talked about. Noise is basically any unwanted sound. Noise pollution is an unseen danger. It’s not visible as air and water pollution. Noise pollution is any unwanted or disturbing sound that affects the human and well-being of humans or other organisms.

The sound is measured in decibel units. There are different sounds having different ranges of decibels like rustling leaves having 20 to 30 decibels, thunderclap having 120 decibels, and wail of a siren having 120 to 140 decibels. A sound having 85 decibels or more is considered to be harmful to the human ear. This includes sound from power lawn mowers having 90 decibels, subway trains having 90 to 115 decibels, and loud rock concerts having 110 to 120 decibels.

Noise pollution has negative effects on millions of people on a daily basis however the most common problem of noise pollution is Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). It may cause high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbances, and many other problems. Children exposed to noise pollution have been found to have impairment in memory, loss of reading skills, and suffer from stress. Noise pollution has not only affected humans instead it has a huge impact on wildlife too. Some research has shown that noise from the naval sonar device causes mass strandings of whales on beaches, and alters the feeding behaviors of endangered blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus). There are many ways to reduce noise pollution. Industrial areas should be established away from the residential areas, a soundproof mechanism should be provided in industrial areas, and no horn system should be implemented by the government to reduce the noise pollution from vehicles. People should be aware of the harmful impact of noise pollution so that they can follow precautions. Planting trees around the home can help to reduce the impact of noise pollution.

References :

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/noise-pollution