Dealing with noise Pollution
Noise consists of various types of sound in the atmosphere or environs while pollution is the insertion of contaminants into the natural environment that is capable of leading to threaten changes, irregularities to the eco system. So therefore, Noise pollution is referred to as constant exposure to unwanted or excessive sound which has inimical effects in human and animal life. Its also known as environmental noise or sound pollution.
Noise pollution might lead to health problems for people and wildlife From generating sets noise to car honk, loud music sound, industrial noise, construction site noise , testing of bombs and rockets, animal sounds like barking dog, etc can cause hearing loss, stress, and high blood pressure. Noise pollution is now common that people are not worried about it adverse effect anymore, they now count noise pollution as a normal thing with less action taken to curb it.
Normally not all sounds are noise, sound is measured in decibels and any sound is exceeds 75 db to 85 db is considered harmful to human especially when one is exposed to this noise for a long time but any sound less than 65 db is considered okay for human during the day but a good night sleep is impossible in a night time
noise level above 30db.
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Sound pollution causes damages to the ear and may lead to hearing loss and causes illness from hypertension to fatigue, stress, sleeping disorders, hysteria, gastiritis, headache, heart attacks and many more illness, it also affects people's concentration, most people lose focus when exposed to lot of noise and this affect them psychologically and reduce lifespan.
Noise pollution also affect wildlife through the effect caused by industries, railways, explosions and commotion in the cities, aircrafts, pulses , ship sonar, etc can be felt on manmals and birds and can lead to hysteria and miscarriage in mammals. Acute noise levels also affect non-living things too. The sonic booms cause cracks in statutes archeological momuments also high intensity explosions can break glass panes and vibrations in buildings or probably collapse buildings.
To have a safer and more livable world, its neccessary we find ways to limit noise pollution in our society there are various strategies to solve noise pollution and this is known as sound control or noise mitigation.
Firstly, there is need for awareness, the people need to be aware of the dangers of noise pollution, they need to know what noise pollution does to human body and ecosystem also they should be enlightened on how to reduce noise such as avoiding noisy activities like listening to loud music, making loud sounds, etc also people should not use earphone for a long period of time as its capable of damaging the ear and using noise absorbing material ups in home to reduce noise effects also they should be thought about the noise level so they won't violate the regulations put in place by the government.
Secondly, government can create noise management agency who will be responsible for creating preventive and corrective measures to regulate noise in the environment, there can also be separate industrial estates from residential areas to protect the populace from industrial noises. schools, hospitals and residential homes should be built far away from airports, industry, research centers, clubhouse, etc and noise control technologies should be used in new buildings and industrial company should find a way to reduce their machines noise and there should be general noise level in which no one must exceed this agency will see to the compliance of this regulations and punish offenders maybe by fining them or imprisonment also, they can open a platform where people can report this law offenders so as to ensure strict adherence.
Provision of safety equipments in noisy areas, people should be provided with safety equipments like ear-protection aids like ear-plugs, ear-muffs, noise helmets, headphones, etc, this gadget helps in reducing noise effect in a noisy area for exam people who walk in industry that makes use of heavy noisy machines it helps to reduce the noise exposure.
Trees can also help in noise mitigation, planting more trees is very helpful when trying to reduce noise, they serve as natural noise absorbers especially hedges, its known that trees reduce noise by 5 db to 10 db, it can be planted in residential homes and industrial area or highway this would beautify the society and make it more habitable for everyone. Also people can install quiet places in their homes, it's a very perfect measure to fight noise pollution since people are easily exposed to noise pollution daily, it will be beneficial to have quiet places to cool down and relax. It can be installed in work places and home.
Also noisy areas especially industrial areas can find way to mitigate their noise maybe by lubricating their machines constantly so as to reduce noise and old machines should be replaced with new or better one which doesn't make much noise also companies should check their noise level regularly so they can know when they are causing harm to the environment. It's also advisable to switch from the use of gasoline powered engine automobiles to electric automobile, since petrol powered cars makes a lot of noise switching to electric cars will lead to a significant reduction in noise level especially on the road cause electric cars are more silent and eco-friendly.
The government needs to make regulations to curb noise pollution in the water, noise pollution effect is also felt in the sea as a lot of creature are affected by noisy sound mostly ships and naval ships, the create sounds up to 235 db that affects marine animals that relies on echolocation for communication, navigation, etc this makes the like whales unable to echolocate, government should make laws to protect this creatures by putting no go zone to areas where whales are dolphins are highly located also they shouldn't shoot pulses to ocean floor cause this can cause damages to marine animals hearing or other serious injury.