The Lumberjack Mustard Audio Show Ep 1.

Noise pollution is a significant issue that affects both human health and the environment. It can lead to stress-related illnesses, hearing loss, and sleep disruption. Noise also has a negative impact on concentration and education, as seen in a study of students near train tracks. Animals, such as land and marine species, are also affected by noise pollution, impacting their ability to hunt, reproduce, and navigate. However, there are ways to mitigate noise pollution, such as reducing volume levels and using noise-canceling headphones. Materials like trees and dense grass can act as noise barriers, and governments and corporations can implement strategies to reduce noise production. Overall, addressing noise pollution is essential for improving quality of life for both humans and the environment. Hello, and welcome to the Lumberjack Mustard audio show. My name is Aidan Mazza. And I'm Graham Knight. Alright, today we are here to talk about noise pollution. Noise pollution. So, the EPA defines noise pollution as an unwanted or disturbing sound that interferes with normal activities and disrupts or diminishes one's quality of life. A lot of times when we think about pollution, you may be thinking about some factory or fossil fuels, but noise is just as much a pollution as, say, carbon dioxide. Now, first off, noise has a lot of impact on our health. You might know this, you might not, but it produces a lot of stress-related illnesses. Some of those include high blood pressure, heart disease, hearing loss, and sleep disruption, although not a disease can definitely lead to some negative health impacts. Now, just like how working on a construction site or around loud machines and things quite frequently can damage your ears, being near those things or just in range of them for long periods of time can lead to just as much damage as well as stress-related issues. Yeah, both me and Graham live within a few miles of a major highway and we could hear it all the time, every hour of the day. Yeah, you walk outside and most times you don't notice it, but it's always there and it's always just this droning in the background and it may not disrupt us as much because we're a little further away, but you have to imagine that there are people who live a lot closer who have much bigger problems with it and going the other direction, it's only a few more miles before you hit another highway or a major road. So, yeah, and thinking just how much road and highway is just sort of present across the entire globe, tons and tons of people, probably the millions affected by roadway noise pollution, but your hearing isn't the only thing that could be damaged. Excess noise has an effect on concentration and especially in children's education. The APA had a study in 1974 in New York City that was on the effects of the subway, like, train noise in children who were studying in classrooms near train tracks and it found that the reading scores of the students whose classrooms were in the subway and whose classrooms were near the train tracks were actually a year behind those sixth graders, students who were on the side of the school away from the train tracks, you know, a whole year behind in your reading score. And that had a major, major impact. The study also found an 11% loss of class time because teachers just had to stop teaching because the train was just simply too loud. So, after this, the New York City transit system did install some noise reducing implements on the rails, but only adjacent to the classroom and, you know, New York City trains go all throughout the city. There's really not many safe places in a city like that and we're lucky to be outside of the city by a bit. But, fortunately, although it was kind of a limited response on the city transit system's part, they did notice that the noise reduction materials did lower the sound significantly and the reading scores subsequently improved. So, you know, I think that's just plainly obvious that, you know, maybe we should think about implementing that all across the train system. But, cars and highways are also a big contributor, the largest contributor, actually. But, to deal with this, the Federal Highway Administration does recommend that we sort of have noise barriers. If you've ever been driving down the highway, you'll see those big concrete walls, you know, might have patterns. You know, the ones in Florida actually have these nice designs of panthers and crocodiles or alligators and birds on it. It looks very nice and it definitely helps with the noise. But, trees also work pretty well. You know, if you think about it, the shape of a tree will help with refracting that noise. But, it's not only humans that are impacted by noise, but animals too. Yeah, animals are quite reliant on hearing. You think about how a dog, you know, half blind, color blind, so they rely mostly on smell, but also, as we know, audio. Dogs can hear much better than us, as can many, many animals that live in the forests and all those places that have had highways driven through them. It does, sorry for interrupting there, but it does negatively impact their ability to hunt. Because, again, although not quite a dog, but a wolf, you know, they're going to be using their hearing to hunt deer. And, you know, they've got to sort of hear breaking branches or something. And, if they can't hear that, they can't hear their prey moving around, well, what's going to happen? The deer's going to starve. And, once any part of the food chain starts suffering like that, well, it affects the rest of it. So, there's also mating calls. Mating calls, most animals use mating calls to find someone to reproduce with. And, when there's so much noise going on in the background that you just can't hear anybody calling, it can negatively affect genetic diversity and the population of a species. I mean, it really makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Like, you're not going to be able to hear that mating call that's far away. So, you're literally physically limiting the availability of mates for the wildlife. But, not only land animals, marine life is also really impacted by this. Many, many, many marine animals use stuff like echolocation to navigate, like belugas, dolphins, whales are a big one. Literally. Yeah, literally. But, they use specific frequencies to bounce off different objects and find their way around. If you can't hear that specific frequency, well, it's bad luck. You've basically blinded the entire whale population. And, boats use the same method to navigate, or at least navigate the ocean bottom sonar. You can imagine if boats are using similar frequencies, then you can definitely disrupt the abilities of those animals that use echolocation in the water. But, the humans, additionally with wind farms, you usually think about wind farms as a pretty good way to get some sustainable energy going on. But, they do have some negative effects against marine animals. With offshore wind farms and the construction process, you think about it, a lot of machinery is going to make a lot of noise. A pile driving big wind turbines into the ocean floor. You're not going to really think about this in your day-to-day life, but it's an ever-present reality for a pod of dolphins living around that area. And, plant life as well. A plant that relies on birds eating their seeds to spread. If the birds are scared away by noise all the time, then the plants are going to have a tough time reproducing and spreading around. So, it affects all walks of life in the environment and the ecosystem. Yeah, and it's something when I was doing my research on noise pollution, I didn't expect to find. I mostly thought about the animals, but plants are affected as well. However, it's not all bad news. There are things you can do to mitigate the effects of noise pollution. For example, those day-to-day activities that involve noise, such as watching TV, listening to music, playing video games. It's all things that we do and we don't really think about how loud it is. Not only can it disrupt others, people and animals, but it can also damage our own ears. It can lead us to listening to things even louder. So, turning down volume on things like that to just where you need it, or using subtitles or something, can definitely help improve your hearing and not disturb others if you're living in a tight space like an apartment or in a city. Yeah, for sure. But, also with music, maybe just listen to it less often. Music's great, I love it, but listening to your AirPods for an eight-hour stretch might not be the best thing for your hearing. Maybe have a few quiet periods throughout your day. Sit down and just enjoy a book or do some quiet activity that doesn't involve a lot of sound. And there's also materials that can be used to dampen noise, such as carpeting curtains, certain furniture, egg cartons you can hang on the wall. Their shape dampens noise. Oh yeah, sure. Although, not my mom's best interior design choice. Yeah. You know, if you've got a noisy neighbor, I've never lived in a city apartment, but I've heard stories from people who have. If you've got a noisy neighbor and thin walls, do something like put a heavy furniture like a bookshelf against that wall and that'll help limit the noise coming through. You can use noise-canceling headphones in a place like a noisy city environment. Another thing to lower hearing damage and all that stress that can build up. Yeah, for sure. And if you've also lived in that city environment and get some noise-canceling headphones, you'll probably be able to increase your productivity. Because you're not going to be able to focus too well with the constant sound of taxis and trucks and whatnot. Yeah. So, you know, it'll help you maybe achieve your goals or get your homework done faster and better. I believe I did discuss this, but trees and dense grass can be used as noise reduction barriers. They look great, they're good for the environment, and they get the job done. Governments and corporations can also do things like this on larger scales to limit the noise production from large infrastructures such as roads, highways, construction sites, etc. Yeah, although not too common, but there are materials you could build roads out of that limit the noise from tires and the vehicles passing over the road. So, maybe something that might be a bit expensive, but a worthwhile investment. Hand-held tools can be used in favor of power tools if you like doing things the old-fashioned way. I don't know the last time I ever saw someone use a hand to drill, but I'm sure it's workable. Maybe there are benefits. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think you'd get more of a workout cutting up a log with a handsaw than a chainsaw. So, something to definitely think about. But, if you're enjoying the outdoors and you do want to protect it from the effects of noise pollution, maybe just do quieter activities like canoeing instead of going jet skiing. I'm sure everybody would appreciate it if you're camping or backpacking or something. Don't take a Bluetooth speaker and crank it up during a campfire and leave behind anything like a noisy portable air conditioner or fan that you just don't need. National parks are not for disco parties. Yes, absolutely. In addition to the comment on the national parks, if everybody's there, it's certainly noisy. But, if we all sort of try to keep it down, it'll become a quiet, more pleasant place and you'll see more animals. The wildlife will start maybe becoming more comfortable in that space because the whole point of a national park is to preserve the wild. And, if we just sort of come in there and start making all the noises and scaring them away, I mean, it kind of contradicts the original purpose. Yeah. And, again, the offshore wind farms mentioned earlier, the ones that can easily disrupt oceans with the construction noises. Companies are using bubble shields to dampen and refract construction noises. Yeah, that'll definitely be helpful. The article where I found that from the Scientific American also included that the bubble shields can help reduce that noise by 95%, which is a huge margin. And, I don't think it'd be too complicated to really set up. So, definitely a viable solution. The shipping company Maersk upgraded some of its ships with new propellers and hulls that quiet the noise of a shipping or container ship passing overhead. But, this also had an additional effect of saving them fuel in the long run. So, although it was kind of expensive, it costs about $100 million, I believe, with how expensive fuel is right now, definitely investment that's going to pay for itself and make a few whales pretty happy. Yeah. So, yeah, all in all, there are lots of downsides to noise pollution. It is a pollution that should be recognized. It can cause long-term damage to humans, such as things like hearing loss and heart problems. It has a big impact on wildlife as well, just like every other pollution. Don't overlook it. Everybody does their part to limit it, and I think we could definitely help limit it and fight it, maybe even eventually stop it. Maybe. Well, that's all for this episode of the Lumberjack Mustard Audio Show. Thank you for tuning in. Yeah, thank you for tuning in, and have a good day. Thank you.