Noise Pollution - Research Paper Example

Running head: NOISE POLLUTION Noise Pollution of the of of the the assignment is due In the past few years there has been a rising alarm with the state of the environment in which we live. Together with water, soil and air pollution, noise has been acknowledged as a serious pollutant. The noise levels have risen considerably in the past and the side effects have become more evident. The world has become highly industrialized and urbanized and this has resulted to the rising levels of noise pollution.

Noise can be defined as an unwanted sound that affects people and the environment as stated by McKinney, Schoch and Yonavjak (2007). It is a disturbance to the human environment that has been escalating at disturbing rates over the years. The most common cause of noise pollution is traffic which occurs in the urban areas. Factories and industries are also a contributing factor to noise pollution due to the appliances they use. Audio entertainment systems also emit high levels of noise. There are various effects on the human environment due to increased levels of noise pollution.

We seem to have accepted noise as part of our lives regardless of the adverse psychological and physiological effects it has on our lives as explained by Kumar (2004). One of the most prevalent effects of noise pollution is temporary or permanent deafness and all those who work or live in noisy areas suffer from hearing impairment. It leads to interference with the working schedules of people as it has huge impacts on the level of concentration at work. Other effects include health problems such as fatigue, indigestion, ulcers and irritability, annoyance and sleep interference.

Noise pollution is short-lived or transient unlike other forms of environmental pollution. Therefore, once the sound generation is stopped, the problem is solved. The main objective behind the solution is to cancel the source from the human residential environment. The solution should be planning for the appropriate site by communities, building orientation and design, interior layout (insulation), physical barriers (walls) landscaping and buffering areas in the community where needed to reduce noise as explained by McKinney, Schoch and Yonavjak (2007).

The factories should install sound detectors that will assist in the analysis of sound frequencies regularly. This solution is however faced by economic, political and legal barriers. Residential areas should be located in areas away from noise producing industries. However, this faces economic challenges since industries and factories are located in major towns that act as business sectors. Workers’ unions play an important role in the political scene in nations. The location of industries in inhabited areas would deny the workers the chance of active participation in politics.

The legal implications are in the location of houses as it cannot be shifted without consent. The residential houses should also have sound proof walls to minimize the noise levels reaching other inhabitants. The landscape in the areas with high levels of noise should have many physical structures including buildings and vegetation that act as a buffer by absorbing the noise produced. Social awareness should be taken at a global level to highlight the effects and causes of noise pollution and the government together with the public should carry out measures to control noise pollution (Kumar, 2004).

In this way we can manage noise pollution at a global level. References Kumar, A. (2004). A textbook of environmental science. APH Publishing. McKinney, M. L., Schoch, R. M. & Yonavjak, L. (2007). Environmental science: Systems and solutions. (4th ed). Jones & Bartlett Learning.