Noise Pollution Essay

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“Noise & Noise Pollution.” Abstract: No one on earth can escape the sounds of noise – an unwanted, disturbing sound that causes a nuisance in the eye of the beholder. Noise is a disturbance to the human environment that is escalating at such a high rate that it will become a major threat to the quality of human lives. In the past thirty years, noise in all areas, especially in urban areas, have been increasing rapidly. There are numerous effects on the human environment due to the increase in noise pollution. In the following paper, the cause and effects of noise pollution will be presented in some detail. Slowly, insensibly, we seem to accept noise and the physiological and psychological deterioration that accompanies it as an inevitable part of our lives. What is Noise? The word noise is cognate with the Latin word nauseas, which means disgust or discomfort. From the Merriam – Webster online dictionary, Noise is defined as: “any sound that is undesired or interferes with one's hearing” So we conclude that noise is unwanted/unpleasant sound, whereas noise pollution is unwanted sound dumped into the atmosphere without regard to the adverse effects it may have. How do we measure noise? The decibel (abbreviated dB) is the unit used to measure the intensity of a sound. The decibel scale is a little odd because the human ear is incredibly sensitive. Your ears can hear everything from your fingertip brushing lightly over your skin to a loud jet engine. In terms of power, the sound of the jet engine is about 1,000,000,000,000 times more powerful than the smallest audible sound. On the decibel scale, the smallest audible sound (near total silence) is 0 dB. A sound 10 times more powerful is 10 dB. A sound 100 times more powerful than near total silence is 20 dB. A sound 1,000 times more powerful than near total silence is 30 dB. Here are some

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