Essay Example on Noise Pollution: Causes & Consequences

Noise is a day to day encounter and most people do not consider it a problem. However, the noises we hear are mostly related to the activities of our daily living. Noise pollution, however, can be defined as the spread of a lot of noise that harms human activity life. Noise pollution all over the world is majorly caused by transportation systems and machines. Other causes of noise pollution all over the world include improper urban planning when residential and industrial buildings are built side by side in areas that should be solely residential. According to (Eugene Robert,2016) Major sources of pollution by noise in residential areas include construction, maintenance of lawns, transportation noise and loud music. A form of noise pollution that is on the rise is the noise from electricity generators in households leading to environmental pollution mostly in developing countries.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

High levels of noise can lead to a variety of harmful conditions in us humans and it can also lead to an increase in the occurrence of diseases specifically it can also lead to a permanent loss of hearing.

As by (Enda Murphy, 2014) Noise pollution can affect both the health and behavior of humans. Noise can lead to damage to a person's physiological health. Pollution by noise can cause a lot of things like sleep disturbances, hearing loss, tinnitus, levels of stress that are very high, hypertension and a host of many other harmful effects.

Noise can be classified as unwanted sound because it disrupts normal human activities like sleep, conversation, interferes with, diminishes the quality of a person's life. Hearing loss that is induced by nose can be as a result of constant exposure to levels of noise that are above 85 decibels. Study research done by many organizations showed that people that were not significantly exposed to industrial or transportation noise did not suffer from a loss of hearing like their counterparts that had significant exposure to industrial or transportation noise.

A concept that is often used in the reduction of noise pollution in the environment or workplaces is a concept known as "Hierarchy of Controls". As from (Lawrence k. wang and Norman c. Pereira 2017) This brings us to the engineering control, this solution involves making a physical modification to reduce the propagation of noise and also to protect all individuals from the overexposure to noise. If the noise control techniques available are not adequate or feasible, we can also try to take some steps to help protect ourselves from all of the negative effects of pollution by noise.

If we cannot do without being around sounds that are loud as a result of work or other factors, we should try to protect ourselves and our ears by using hearing protection devices like ear muffs or earplugs. Recently, a program called buy quiet and its associated initiatives have done a lot of work in trying to combat noise exposures in places of work. The programs and the initiatives are promoting the purchase and use of equipment and tools that quieter and also encouraging the design of equipment and tools that are quieter by manufacturers.

Roadway noises and other forms of urban contributors to noise pollution can be controlled through proper urban planning with the design of our roads better. We can reduce roadway noise through using noise barriers, limiting the speed of vehicles, changing the surface texture of roadways, limiting the movement of heavy vehicles, the employment of traffic signals and controls that can help in the smooth flow of vehicles to reduce acceleration and braking, and design of the tire.

All of the various strategies in controlling roadway noises can be applied using a very important factor known as the computer model used in roadway noise. This computer model is capable of handling and addressing, traffic operations, meteorology, and local topography. All of these various methods including the costs can be very modest especially mitigation building-in, as long as all of the solutions are done during the process of planning the project. We can also reduce the noise from aircraft by employing the use of quieter jet engines. The residents of areas near the airports can also benefit from changing the time and flight paths of flights. As by (J.Jeffrey Peirce ,2018)

In conclusion, it is important to make noise pollution seriously since it can cause harmful effects to human health if taken lightly without any precaution hence protection of the environment is vital. Different control techniques can be applied such as proper urban planning and also separating residential ones from industrial areas to avoid it.

References

Eugene Robert, Goldhaber, D. D., Gratz, T. M., & Holden, K. L (2016) - source, effects on Workplace productivity and health implication, noise pollution, the uniquiet crisis, 304 pg Ebook

Enda Murphy Stevens, A. H., Kurlaender, M., & Grosz,(2014) - environmental noise pollution -1st Edition

J.Jeffrey Peirce, ruth F.weiner and p.Aarne vesilind (2018). environmental pollution and control - 4th edition