Noise Pollution

Noise Pollution

Of all the types of pollution, noise pollution is one of the most abstract forms.  It doesn't make sense that sound can be likened to CO2 emissions or smog.  It seems strange because it usually doesn't directly harm anyone directly -- it's just really really annoying. 

So noise... pollution?

Noise pollution isn't just being made to listen to Nickelback ad nauseum.  Noise pollution occurs when loud noise disrupts or harms the balance of life for both humans and animals. Some of normal culprits include:

• Cars
• Airplanes
• Outdoor concerts and events
• Parties
• Manufacturing facilities

The Effects

In more concrete terms, sound becomes noise pollution when it begins to disrupt sleep, conversation, or hurts an individual's overall health (according to the EPA).  Over longer periods of exposure, noise pollution can contribute to many adverse health effects, including:

•  High blood pressure
• Stress
• Sleep loss
• Hearing loss
•  Speech interception

Noise as Pollution

Like all forms of pollution, noise becomes noise pollution at levels when the private marginal cost of more noise is different than the social marginal cost of the same noise.  The way that noise pollution differs from different forms of pollution is that it is more difficult to tell how much is too much.  It is possible to determine safe levels of many pollutants and from there create guidelines for lessening the amount of that pollutant overall.  Noise is much trickier because it is largely subjective to each individual.  While we can determine noise levels that lead to hearing loss, the lack of more instant physical harm associated with noise means that one person's rock concert is another person's noise pollution. 

Some Solutions

Admittedly, most of the solutions to noise pollution come from trying to remove the sources of noise, or from moving pollutees away from the source.  As with rock concerts or even bars, it is less typical to find housing right next to these places.  It is a combination of land use planning and zoning that causes this, as well as pure economics in that anything built there wouldn't be worth what it took to build housing there. 

Many communities also use legislation to lessen the amount of residential noise in many areas, specifically with regards to parties.  While cities often can't outright ban parties, they can make it much more difficult to have parties.  An example of an indirect attempt at lessening parties includes the Social Host Ordinance that is being proposed in Fort Collins, CO (you can read about it here).  If this ordinance is passed, it would hold the host of the party liable for any underage drinking that occurred at the party.  It seems that this is unrelated to noise pollution, but in a college town where a lot of underage drinking happens at house parties, this bill could create an incentive to students to not host parties -- thus reducing the amount of noise pollution.