EP 897 Why Noise Pollution Isn’t Just Annoying but Bad for Our Health

 Pneumatic drilling from building sites.  The dull roar of planes overhead.  Your fellow worker’s phone conversations in an otherwise silent office.  The suburban drone of lawn mowers and blowers.  Noise seems to be everywhere, and it can disrupt our sleep, ratchet up our stress, destroy our concentration–yet it’s a problem we shrug off once the immediate annoyance passes. In truth, noise is one of the most pervasive pollutants in our daily lives. It can cause health problems for people and wildlife, both on land and sea.  For humans it can, of course, cause hearing loss, and this is a growing problem for young people as they accessorize with devices early on to amplify their music.  It can lead to high blood pressure and have impacts on longevity overall.  Chris Berdik, our guest and the author of “Clamor: How Noise Took Over the World and How We Can Take It Back” joins us to discuss an issue we pay too little attention to.

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