Keep Out The Noise, Stay Sane

Culture

from the shush! dept

Noise pollution is a topic that you don’t hear all that much about. However, over in Europe they’ve decided it’s time to start tracking information on noisy urban areas, and soon, there will be noise pollution maps of most major urban areas in Europe. Some of them are already up on the web (here’s Paris and London). The World Health Organization is worried that too many people are suffering from living under conditions with too much noise – and many don’t realize the damage they’re doing to their ears. They even claim that being subject to such noise constantly can “contribute to hypertension and heart disease, and may impair mental health.” That’s right. Your sanity may depend on how quiet your surroundings are. Now, the question is how to quiet the noise down. Not everyone agrees, but having the maps to indicate where the problem areas are could certainly help. Some people are talking about adjusting traffic patterns to try to help with the noise, but a more reasonable solution might be focusing on adding soundproofing to noisy areas where people live or work.