At some inopportune time in everyone’s life there is an intrusion upon the ability to peacefully go about daily life, more succinctly termed as noise pollution. Noise pollution is the basic forceful impression of extreme sound, and can be attributed to dozens of annoying causes. Regardless of the cause of a particular instance of noise pollution, it is nearly always the fault of a singular culprit – the Human Race. As society progresses in terms of the industrial complex that drives our economy, noise pollution is an accompanying component of industrial advancement, and has come to be accepted to a certain degree as taking the good with the bad. At it’s root, noise pollution can be as simple as an inconsiderate and noisy neighbor that has no regard for others, or as complex and large as an airport located near a residential area. In it’s strictest definition, noise pollution is any undesirable noise that disturbs the ability to attain peaceful enjoyment, for both Humans and wildlife.
The causes of noise pollution in general are obvious – construction sites, highway vehicle traffic, industrial companies, air traffic, rail traffic, and others. While many of these sources are unavoidable in daily life, the exposure to them can be kept to a minimum with a little personal effort. The effects of these forms of noise pollution can be reduced by something as simple as rolling up a car window or turning up the television volume. Good urban planning can reduce the number of citizens forced to endure noise pollution by keeping the industrial and transportation sources in a central location away from residential areas. Competent local government has the ability to pass strict regulatory guidelines to suppress the creation of noise pollution, or at the least to discourage those business prone to offensive noises. Unfortunately, in many instances the local industrial economy takes priority over personal comfort, as the presence of noise pollution is a sign of local prosperity.
Without doubt, the individual is the most common cause of noise pollution, at least as applied to life in a residential community. Home improvement chores that require the use of power tools and lawn equipment are a way of life in every neighborhood, and are generally accepted within reason as part of life and necessary. Add to this those who are just plain rude in their view of others by playing loud music, owning dogs that bark constantly or leaving children unsupervised to create noise havoc, and it is easy to see why noise pollution has become so firmly entrenched in our lives
