How the media covered noise issues
Every year, Soundproofist publishes a list of articles that appeared in the news about noise and sound issues or solutions. In 2023, noise topics again appeared in most of the major news media, though not much has changed in terms of noise reduction. Let’s take a look, by month:
January 2023
- Bloomberg: “No-Honking Days and Noise Barriers Aim to Quell Mumbai’s Cacophony” (by Catherine Davison)
- Earth.fm: “Field recording – A plea for recording nearby” (by Nils Mosh)
- Eco RI: “Petition Calls for Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers to be Blown Out of Rhode Island” (By Frank Carini)
- Eswatini Daily News: “Noise pollution in Africa affecting mental health” (this article actually released at the end of Dec. 2022)
February 2023
- Harvard School of Public Health: “Noise pollution can lead to sleep issues, chronic health problems”
- Nature: “Noise shatters deep sleep thanks to dedicated brain circuit” This article is behind a paywall.
March 2023
- American College of Cardiology: “Road Noise Makes Your Blood Pressure Rise – Literally”(by Sam Roth)
- Environmental Health Perspectives: “The Echoes of Noise: Residential Exposure to Traffic and Risk of Tinnitus” (by Oyelola Adegboye)
- CNN: “Plants aren’t silent. They make clicking sounds, a study finds” (by Katie Hunt)
- The Guardian: “‘Like a vacuum cleaner running all day’: noisy nightlife making Spanish streets uninhabitable” (by Ashifa Kassam)
April 2023
- North Jersey.com: “As deal pushes helicopters away from Statue of Liberty, will noise disrupt NJ suburbs?” (By Colleen Wilson)
- Boston School of Public Health: “Exposure to Airplane Noise Increases Risk of Sleeping Fewer than 7 Hours Per Night” (by Jillian McKoy) Originally from a research article titled “Associations between Aircraft Noise Exposure and Self-Reported Sleep Duration and Quality in the United States-Based Prospective Nurses’ Health Study Cohort”
May 2023
- Science Daily: “Even slight traffic noise has a negative impact on work performance” (from Chalmers University of Technology)
- TRT Afrika: “How noise pollution is bearing down on millions in Nigeria“
June 2023
- The Hustle: “One man’s quest to make pickleball quiet” (by Mark Dent)
- The New York Times: “Noise Could Take Years Off Your Life. Here Are the Health Impacts” (by Emily Baumgaertner, Jason Kao, Eleanor Lutz, Josephine Sedgwick, Rumsey Taylor, Noah Throop and Josh Williams)
- Fortune Magazine: “Too much noise can hurt your health and shorten your lifespan. Here’s how to know if you’re at risk, and tips for protecting yourself” (by Alexa Mikhail)
- The New York Times: “Shattered Nerves, Sleepless Nights: Pickleball Noise Is Driving Everyone Nuts” (by Andrew Keh)
- Planetizen: “The Case Against Noise Pollution”. (By Diana Ionescu)
- European Environment Agency: “Are you noticing the harmful noise around you?“
- NBC New York: “I-Team: How one NYC resident makes a living writing thousands of noise tickets “. (By Chris Glorioso and Eduardo González Quintero)
July 2023
- NPR: “In Good Health: How Chronic Noise Exposure Affects The Human Body”
- CBC: “Noise is all around us. And it’s harming our health”. (By Isabelle Gallant)
- Berlin.de: “Noise detectors on Kurfürstendamm: 1,144 vehicles recorded so far” Berlin rolled out its first noise cameras in 2023, the results will be released in 2024
August 2023
- The Guardian: “The rise of ‘house hushing’: is it the key to a tranquil life?” (By Emma Beddington)
- NPR: “The growing movement against noise pollution” (by Pien Huang)
- The East African: “Rwanda imposes curfew to curb noise pollution“
- South China Morning Post: “Silencing retailers? Hong Kong environmental authorities’ proposed ban on loudspeakers has hawkers worried” (by Winona Cheung and Sammy Heung)
September 2023
- VPM (Virginia): “How Richmond noise pollution affects health”. (By Ian M. Stewart)
October 2023
- American Academy of Pediatrics: “Preventing Excessive Noise Exposure in Infants, Children, and Adolescents” (by Sophie J. Balk, MD, FAAP)
- The Guardian: “Honk honk! Can noise cameras reduce ‘potentially fatal’ sound pollution?” (by Alaina Demopoulos)
- Portugal Resident: “ZERO calls for urgent closure of Lisbon airport, citing noise pollution “ (by Natasha Donn)
- Hindustan Times: “20 years of teaching Mumbai the value of silence,” by Sumaira Abdulali
- The Standard (Hong Kong): “Patrols to tackle noisy visitors at Temple Street Night Market, says operator“
November 2023
- Brooklyn Daily Eagle: “Brooklyn may get reprieve from Manhattan’s noisy helicopters” (by Raanan Geberer)
- The Providence Journal: “Noise from a firing range is driving neighbors crazy. Police say they have no money to fix it.” (By Amy Russo)
- RI News Today: “Cranston Police Chief refutes Brown report on firing range noise, working with Mayor on changes”
- The Hill: “Noise pollution disproportionately affects marginalized communities and area wildlife: Study”(by Sharon Udasin)
- Scottsdale Progress: “Scottsdale confronts the knotty issue of noise” (by Tom Scanlon)
- The Standard: “LONDON’S GETTING LOUDER! INSIDE THE CAPITAL’S TOXIC NOISE POLLUTION PROBLEM”. (By Katie Strick)
December 2023
- Canada’s National Observer: “Judge orders Montreal suburb to compensate residents for excessive traffic noise” (by Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press)
- The New York Times: “Gunfire Echoing Through School Grounds? Parents Are Terrified. Kids Stopped Noticing.” (By Emily Baumgaertner)
- The Telegraph: “Heat pump planning rules to be overhauled over noise pollution fears”. (By Tom Haynes)
- Bangkok Post: “Noise pollution destroying condo life” (by Michel Rosmolen)
- The Straits Times: “South Korea’s top court rules that deliberate noise constitutes stalking“
- The New York Times: “Quiet, Please: New York’s ‘Noise Cameras’ Are Listening” (by Erin Nolan)
Best of 2023 – how the media covered sound and noise