Noise Pollution: Practical Solutions to a Serious Problem Essay

   Noise Pollution:    Practical Solutions to a Serious Problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Noise pollution is a growing concern for most Americans.   It is a problem because many city, suburban, and rural areas are affected.   Noise creeps into our cars, our homes, and schools and disrupts everything.   Noise pollution is a more harmful pollutant than most think.   Medical evidence proves that noise can have detrimental physical and psychological effects upon a person.   It is a danger to one's mental health, it interrupts the learning development of children, and it hinders sleep. The physical consequences of short-term exposure to noise pollution can result in higher blood pressure and cholesterol increase (Bullock- Loughran 12,13). Medical evidence proves that prolonged exposure to noises can cause persistent health problems such as ulcers or hypertension (Thomas 20, Bullock- Loughran 12). There have been cases where heart attacks have occurred in individuals with already present cardiac problems. One common and harmful form of noise pollution, aircraft noise, has amazing effects on one’s physical health.   A study conducted in the early eighties proved that people residing within 3 miles of the Los Angeles International Airport had a higher death rate of 19% than the death rate of those residents six miles away from the airport.   Similar conclusions occurred at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (Thomas 20). Along with the physical effects, there are psychological issues related to noise pollution.   A psychological study concludes that humans may adapt to noise at times but random and unpredictable noise may eventually cause some deterioration in everyday activity (Thomas 18). Some people have even committed murder, used drugs,... ...y 1997: 5. McCabe, Michael.   â€Å"Anti-Noise Crusaders Get Louder and Louder.†Ã‚   The San Francisco   Chronicle   19 Feb. 1998, final ed.: A1. Singleton, Janet.   â€Å"Huh? Hear! Hear! Noise Pollution is No Joke.†Ã‚   The Denver Post   24   Apr. 1995, second ed.: E1. Sulski, Jim.   â€Å"Tone It Down!; The Ins and Outs of Soundproofing a Noisy Dwelling.†   Chicago Tribune 18 Sept. 1998, final ed.: C1+.    Thomas, Sharon M.   â€Å"Perception of Airport Hazards by Land Users in the Vicinity of   Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.†Ã‚   Diss.   Arizona State University, 1980. Ward, W. Dixon.   â€Å"Noise-induced Hearing Loss.†Ã‚   Noise and Society.   Ed. Dylan M. Jones and Antony J. Chapman.   Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Ltd., 1984. 77-109. Young, Leslie A.   â€Å"Sonic Boomers; Clinton’s Hearing Aid Catches His Generation’s Ear†   Mountain News   14 Oct. 1997, D3.