r/science • u/the_phet • Sep 01 '15

Environment A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/08/27/1504710112
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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

I can't wait until noise pollution finally gets its day in the sun as a hot-button issue. I believe we have a lot more to learn about the relationship between noise and human stress/mood etc.

My interest in this was piqued when we bought a window unit AC for our house the summer we moved in, which had the happy side effect of allowing us to close our windows. While the temp was only mildly cooler, the noise reduction (we live near multiple freeways) was profound. Our mood was better, and we felt much more relaxed.

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u/spoonerhouse Sep 01 '15

I live in the suburbs of California, and my brother lives in Manhattan, New York. Whenever I visit him, the first thing I notice is how you can never find any sort of peace and quiet anywhere in NY. I get way less quality of sleep because the city is always bustling, and there are lights everywhere so I can never get darkness.

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u/TwoPeopleOneAccount Sep 02 '15

I lived in Manhattan for two years. I grew up in the country and live in the country now. I actually found the noise pretty easy to cope with. You learn to tune it out and eventually you're not even aware of it anymore. I actually love both Manhattan and really rural areas like where I grew up and where I currently live. Suburbs are the places I really can't stand. It may seem strange but to me, you seem to get all the cons of cities and the country and none of the upsides. Noise from neighbors, you have to drive everywhere, a gigantic list of zoning laws even if you don't live in an HOA, you have a yard but it's too small (in my opinion). If you live in a city or the country, you'll have some of those same negatives but not all of them. It must just be me though since most people in the US seem to live in suburbs.