Noise Pollution Harms Health of Millions Across Europe, Report Finds (theguardian.com) 29
More than 110 million people across Europe suffer high levels of health-damaging noise pollution, according to a report. The resulting physiological stress and sleep disturbance leads to 66,000 early deaths a year and many cases of heart disease, diabetes and depression. The Guardian: The report, from the European Environment Agency (EEA), focuses on noise from cars, trains and aeroplanes and found that 20% of the population of the European Economic Area (EEA) were affected. Separate research, using a slightly lower threshold for dangerous noise pollution, found that 40% of the UK population were exposed to harmful transport noise.
Seventeen million people endure particularly high noise pollution -- "long-term, high-annoyance" -- and almost 5 million suffer "severe" sleep disturbance. Fifteen million children live in areas of harmful noise. The harm to health from noise is greater than that from higher-profile risks including secondhand tobacco smoke or lead exposure, and incurs an economic cost of almost $116bn a year, the analysis found.
The damage to health is likely to be an underestimate, the researchers said. Using the World Health Organization's stricter threshold for risky noise pollution gives an estimate of 150 million people across Europe exposed. The EU's target to cut the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030 will not be met without further action, the researchers said.
Seventeen million people endure particularly high noise pollution -- "long-term, high-annoyance" -- and almost 5 million suffer "severe" sleep disturbance. Fifteen million children live in areas of harmful noise. The harm to health from noise is greater than that from higher-profile risks including secondhand tobacco smoke or lead exposure, and incurs an economic cost of almost $116bn a year, the analysis found.
The damage to health is likely to be an underestimate, the researchers said. Using the World Health Organization's stricter threshold for risky noise pollution gives an estimate of 150 million people across Europe exposed. The EU's target to cut the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030 will not be met without further action, the researchers said.
I can fix that! (Score:2)
Your health might suffer in other ways, but at least it'll be different! Also, it'll use up a lot more of your income! win-win!
Thanks (Score:5, Funny)
People are stupid (Score:5, Interesting)
Just try convincing people practically anywhere that noise is harmful, and most of them will tell you it's not that bad because they survived noise, and anyway you need to toughen up. They will have no awareness that it's harming them, too.
Re: (Score:2)
Typically those are the same people who then run to the country for a holiday. You know to escape the ... hustle and bustle of the city life.
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Typically those are the same people who then run to the country for a holiday.
While first scanning your comment I thought I read "the same people who then run the country for a hobby". In some sense I guess my version wasn't too far from what you actually meant...
nah. (Score:1)
Sounds to me like a situation where the noise problem coincides with many other problems. Such as noise caused by polluting devices or noise caused by bad neighborhoods or low income places where everything is allowed because they can't fight back.
Not that poor sleep doesn't slowly lead to many problems we are still uncovering. How does one separate out the many negative factors that go along with the noise?
We need "STFU Cops" (Score:2, Insightful)
Stubborn and drunk people often enjoy noise but don't realize that neighbors don't.
Cats in heat don't help either, sound like somebody is torturing a baby.
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We need "STFU Cops"
We have them, don't we? If you call the cops, they come and tell your neighbours to please lower the music. There are no consequences other than the conversation so you need to call again everyday. The result also depends on local law. The STFU regulation in my area is when police shows up you get 30 min to finish up (whether it is the party or drilling/sawing).
Re: We need "STFU Cops" (Score:5, Interesting)
I had noisy neighbours. Proper raving lunatics. Loud music until 2-3am every night.
Since noise enforcement effectively doesn't exist in the UK, I took matters into my own hands.
Oh, did I mention that I play bass guitar?
Since the boise restrictions only apply between 11pm and 7am, I figured out that if they rave yill late (early), they must hate waking up early, too.
A couple days of practicing bass guitar at 7am, depriving them of sleep and their sleep cycle got forcefully corrected. Had to repeat for a few weeks to let the message sink in but then they learnt not to mess with a guy with a musical axe.
Re: (Score:1)
Ha ha, Kudos!
Did you explicitly encounter and argue with them after you started your 7:01 AM performances, or did they simply get a clue?
Re: We need "STFU Cops" (Score:2)
All sorts. They'd come and try to tell me to stop, they'd threaten me with violence, shout in my face, or they'd just start their own music super loud. Plus many more little things...
I just kept saying in response that if they keep me up at night, I'll keep them up in the morning so their ability to sleep till midday depends on their own behaviour.
Took a few weeks but eventually sleep deprivation made them concede.
Re: We need "STFU Cops" (Score:2)
Sometimes you've got to degrade yourself to primitive methods to send an understandable message to some ignorant, self-important halfwits, you've got to speak their language.
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Wish I had STFU cops where I live.
I'm already... (Score:3)
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Forget traffic noise. (Score:3)
The most persistent, harmful noise where we live usually comes from our noisy neighbours.
In the UK, specifically, the noise law enforcement effectively doesn't exist. For example, if you have raving lunatic neighbours, you've got to go through the council which takes months and 99% of the time doesn't result in any action. There's no one to come and witness the noise at your property when it's happening and take a note/action.
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My neighbor yells at any random time, all the time.
His favorite thing to say is "Oh, the humanity!"
Re: Forget traffic noise. (Score:2)
Must be a software engineer going through an existent-IA-l crisis.
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The most persistent, harmful noise where we live usually comes from our noisy neighbours.
Absolutely false. Noise from neighbours is mostly highly intermittent, rare, and only affects a small minority of people living near shitty neighbours. On the other hand inner city noise is virtually inescapable and constant.
Re: Forget traffic noise. (Score:2)
Count yourself lucky.
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The most persistent, harmful noise where we live usually comes from our noisy neighbours.
Absolutely false. Noise from neighbours is mostly highly intermittent, rare, and only affects a small minority of people living near shitty neighbours. On the other hand inner city noise is virtually inescapable and constant.
Are you personally familiar with devslash0's neighbourhood?
It seems more likely that your blanket statement has at least one exception, and probably many, many more.
Re: (Score:2)
In the USA, it's extremely variable. As it turns out, it is up to localities to institute noise controls or not. In some places they exist and are aggressively enforced, like the cops will come out with a decibel meter. In others they don't exist, and then there's everything in between.
In my teeny tiny city (which it is, legally) the statute says that for the most part it has to be intentionally offensive to be actionable. This is an extremely inadequate standard, and yet also expected for this extremely c
Airports (Score:1)
Major unrecognised benefit of EVs (Score:3)
I’ve said for ages that the relative quietness of EVs is one of their major benefits. As London sees buses and vans and bin lorries electrify, the benefits are ever more pronounced. I was in Marylebone the other day and there was an electric bin lorry — such a revelation not to have that noisy engine.
Re: Major unrecognised benefit of EVs (Score:1)
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Ha. I'm entirely unsentimental about all forms of traffic noise! The quieter the better
What's the point? (Score:2)
Some of these reports are absolutely ridiculous. What's the point what are you going to do about all this noise? Let's get rid of all trains planes cars etc.
There's a lot bigger problems that we're dealing with then noise. Not to mention that if we're worried about noise why won't we worry about the noise that we're putting into our own ear, movies music or all turning the volume up because people are going deaf. Not to mention that everybody's turning up the volume of their music anyway.
I feel like these n
Re: (Score:2)
Some of these reports are absolutely ridiculous.
Evidence please, with specific reasons for judging them to be ridiculous
What's the point what are you going to do about all this noise? Let's get rid of all trains planes cars etc.
Sure - because there's absolutely no possible way to reduce the noise and its impact. Vehicles can't be quietened, noise absorbers and barriers can't be erected, time-of-day regulations can't be enforced. We are helpless in the face of the noise which we as a society create! /sarc
... if we're worried about noise why won't we worry about the noise that we're putting into our own ear, movies music or all turning the volume up because people are going deaf. Not to mention that everybody's turning up the volume of their music anyway.
It seems that you can't differentiate between the effects of the sounds which people choose to expose themselves to, and those which invade people's space, min