噪音污染對(duì)人類有這么大危害

It’s harder and harder to find peace and, especially, quiet. Just ask a field researcher deep in the wilderness. Even in the most remote parts of Alaska the sound of a jet crossing overhead is all too common.

尋求安寧越來(lái)越難，想要安靜更難。不信你隨便去問(wèn)一個(gè)某一領(lǐng)域深入荒野的專家，即使在阿拉斯加最偏遠(yuǎn)的地區(qū)，頭上傳來(lái)飛機(jī)的聲音也是件很尋常的事。

So scientists with the National Park Service set off across the U.S. to study our audio ecology. They recorded more than a million hours of sound from the depths of the Great Basin’s deserts to the hurly burley of the megalopolis that stretches from Boston, through New York City and on to Washington, D.C.

美國(guó)國(guó)家公園管理局的科學(xué)家們紛紛出發(fā)前往美國(guó)各地研究美國(guó)的“音頻生態(tài)”。從大盆地的沙漠深處到喧囂雜鬧的大都市，從波士頓、穿越紐約市再到華盛頓，他們記錄下了超過(guò)100萬(wàn)小時(shí)的聲音。

They found that if you’re craving quiet on the east coast head to the north woods of Maine or the Adirondacks in upstate New York. But for real quiet—defined as less than 20 decibels—the West is best.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果你在東海岸想尋求安靜，那就前往緬因州的北部森林或者去紐約州北部的阿迪朗達(dá)克山脈。但若你想要獲得真正的安靜——比如說(shuō)低于20分貝的安靜——西部是最好的選擇。

The great swath of territory west of the Rockies but east of the western coast includes national parks, wilderness areas and even public lands that are probably as quiet as they were centuries ago. The researchers made that claim while presenting their findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on February 16th.

落基山脈以西的大片領(lǐng)土、西海岸東部廣大地區(qū)包括國(guó)家公園、自然保護(hù)區(qū)甚至公有土地可能都像幾百年前一樣安靜。研究人員于2月16日在美國(guó)科學(xué)促進(jìn)協(xié)會(huì)的年度會(huì)議上發(fā)表了他們的研究結(jié)果。

Noise pollution is not good for people and it’s even worse for animals with more sensitive ears, like bats. And the problem is not confined to land but echoes across the seas as well, where human-produced noise interferes with the lives of various ocean dwellers, including whales. These days on Earth it’s rare to hear [silence].

噪音污染對(duì)人類有害，對(duì)于像蝙蝠那樣聽覺(jué)靈敏的動(dòng)物們有害程度更甚。并且噪音污染問(wèn)題并不僅局限于大陸，它的害處也波及到了海洋。人類制造的噪音同樣干擾了包括鯨魚在內(nèi)的居住在海洋里的生物。“寂靜”在地球上越來(lái)越罕見了。