A lion roars at 114 decibels.The blue whale’s calls are louder than a jet engine at take-off.And pistol shrimps are famous for their intense "screams".But while nature can be noisy, it is sound produced by human activities which appears to be causing the most distress.

It in an undisputed fact that noise pollution is linked to poorer human health. But if you have ever seen your dog howling at a siren or cowering under the bed on bonfire night you will know that this is a problem that affects every living creature on the Earth. Now authors of a brand new study have revealed exactly how it is dramatically affecting myriad creatures from fish to birds, disrupting their ability to talk to each other, affecting where they live and how they find food. 

The threat of sound
From the hum of road traffic to the drone of aircraft, there are a range of human activities that produce noise and most of it overlaps with frequencies at which many animals communicate. The most recent research, published in Biology Letters, found that more than 100 animal species are threatened as a result. The studies were based on experiments in which different aspects of the animals’ behaviour or other measures, such as changes in hormone levels, were recorded before and after exposure to noise. The results reveal that human-produced noise affects all six groups of animals considered, encompassing a wide range of species. The team said it was highly probable that previous studies have underestimated the impact of noise which was masking acoustics that animals use to hunt, mate, and stay safe from predators.

Environmental effects
It’s difficult to quantify just how big an impact man-made noise could have in the long term. After all, in evolutionary terms it is a fairly new phenomenon. But scientific studies like this one are demonstrating that it has the potential to adjust behaviour, alter physiology and even restructure animal communities. Ultimately, it could drive evolutionary change. This is because there are plants and trees which rely on birds and other animals to deliver pollen from one flower or tree to the next, or to disperse their seeds. If animals adapt to noise by changing their behaviour or moving to quieter locations, this will dramatically alter the landscape. Meanwhile, by changing the fine-tuned balance between predator and prey detection, reproduction and survival will be affected, potentially leading to profound genetic and evolutionary consequences. As for marine life, man-made noise is already disrupting life below the surface where almost every living creature depends on sound as a primary sense for mating, communicating, hunting, and survival. In some cases there have been whales, dolphins and other marine mammals that have been so dramatically affected by ship engine noise and sonar that they have died of cerebral haemorrhaging or intentionally beached themselves in a desperate attempt to avoid the sound.

So what can we do?
Noise pollution affects us all – from bird to beast and man to mammal. And as we continue to develop as a species, we have a duty to try to protect ourselves and our feathered and furry friends from its effects. We all need to think about interventions to reduce noise at source by masking or screening it using barriers or sound insulation. We can help there. Further noise mitigation techniques include quieter road surfaces, appropriate signage in protected areas and most importantly, restriction of motorised travel in protected natural areas. For more information, check out our products page.