Noise Pollution

The Pollution and Factors Contributing to it. (Unethical Behavior).

Noise is an inescapable part of human life. While we may enjoy occasional
moments of solitude, it is usually not long before we are confronted with noise of
some sort. While some of this noise is ignored or "gotten used to," it is becoming
increasingly more difficult to do so as our convenience-oriented Malaysian society
races around in its singly-occupied cars, and commutes to our noisy offices in even
noisier motorcycles. And when we arrive home at the end of the day we turn to our
stereo systems and television sets to blast the day's worries out of our heads,
seeking solace in the likes of Deep Purple who also claim to have had a "Long Day."
Or maybe we burn off steam by walking or jogging, but we do so while wedging our
heads between headphones whose shrieking guitars or thumping bass help us to
keep in stride. At night, we can hear youngsters racing illegally on our streets using
heavily modified exhaust system of their motorcycles, screaming out intolerable
decibel of noise. At any rate, we are a noisy society, and to some extent we don't
seem to mind it. Though researchers were investigating the dangers of noise
pollution as early as the 1960's (e.g. McKennell, 1963), we still continue to largely
ignore the damage we are causing ourselves, at least until it's time to go out and buy
a hearing aid. And by then the damage is usually irreversible.
Noise pollution derives from several sources, including street traffic, aircraft,
railroads, industry, construction, consumer products, and other sources. In order to
better understand noise pollution, it is first important to understand where it comes
from. Upon doing so, one can then more carefully consider its impacts on humans
and more effectively investigate methods for reducing noise and preventing its
negative consequences. Of all the sources of noise pollution, street traffic is the most
prevalent and perhaps damaging source of noise pollution. Indeed, Sharp and
Donovan (1979) confirm that "more people are exposed to noise from motor vehicles
than any other single source of noise". Though this claim is now 20 years old, the
prevalence of street traffic has certainly grown since then, and thus the impacts of
traffic noise are still a major factor in human society.
Noise that is emitted by street traffic is generated by engines, exhaust
systems, tires interacting with the road, and horns. Of these, tires contribute most
predominantly to the noise emitted by automobiles, both in the effects on passengers
within a vehicle and in the contribution to roadside noise. The other components of
traffic noise are significant contributors nonetheless. Exhaust and engine noise, for
example, have been implicated as even more prevalent than tire noise in some
cases, especially in Japanese and European-made cars. Further, noise produced
during acceleration can be as much as 20 dB greater than that produced at cruising
speed.
Besides cars, buses and trucks also contribute significantly to traffic noise.
Though there are fewer of these vehicles in use than cars, the contribution of buses
and trucks to noise pollution is significant nonetheless. For example, according to
Burgliarello et al. (1976), "the noise from a heavy truck or bus is equivalent to that
from 10 to 15 private cars together" . One reason for this is that trucks and buses
generally use diesel engines, in which ignition occurs at a higher pressure than in
petrol-burning automobile engine, resulting in an increased amount of airborne
vibration emission. Additionally, diesel engines tend to be used at or near maximum
power more often than passenger cars and light trucks, further contributing to their
levels of noise emission. (Burgliarello et al.)
Motorcycles are another source of traffic noise, and they present a unique
situation. First, unlike cars, trucks, and buses, tire noise contributes rather
insignificantly to the overall amount of noise produced by motorcycles (Sharp &
Donovan, 1979). Thus, the type of engine, acceleration, and other issues that are
relevant to the engine system rather than the tires become more important when
considering motorcycles as a noise source. Second, unlike passengers in cars,
trucks, and buses, the rider of a motorcycle is not shielded by an enclosed
compartment from the noise produced by their vehicle. Third, motorcycles can be
particularly noisy; whereas cars generally produce noise levels in the range of 67-75
dB, motorcycle noise generally ranges from 72-83 dB, but can reach levels as high
as 120 dB immediately behind the cycle. (Burgliarello et al., 1976). In Malaysia, the
density of motorcycles are much higher than any developed nations, thus the
contributory factor of noise pollution by this kind of vehicle supercedes many other
mode of transportation. Not to mention the number of youngsters riding on heavily
modified exhausts which create deafening sounds which could possibly crack your
eardrums.
In summary, then, one would expect to find peaks in traffic noise
accompanying the presence of trucks, buses, and motorcycles. But there are many
other factors besides the type of vehicle that influence the amount of noise produced
by street traffic, as well. Examples of these additional factors can be seen in traffic,
road, environmental, weather, and building parameters.
First, traffic noise is influenced by traffic parameters, which include speed,
density, "fluidity," and driver behavior. Traffic speed and density, the first two of the
traffic parameters, are both positively correlated with noise production. For example,
noise levels increase by 3-5 dB when traffic speed is doubled in the presence of 50
or more vehicles per hour. Traffic fluidity, or the amount of stopping and starting
versus continuous flow, tends to exert its effects in the level and duration of peak
noise intensities. And of course driver behavior influences noise emission, in that
how "hard" people drive their cars also influences peak noise intensities.
Road parameters represent a second additional group of factors influencing
traffic noise. For example, the propagation of traffic noise is significantly reduced in
tunnels versus open roads. Other factors in this category include road surface (e.g.
stone is particularly noisy), gradient (steeper hills cause vehicles to work harder and
thus emit more noise), and width (narrow streets lined closely with buildings trap
noise and increase its effects).
Another group of factors affecting traffic noise includes environmental
parameters, such as the distance and height from the road a person is located, the
presence or absence of natural or artificial screens, and the amount of noise
absorption due to the condition of the ground between a person and the road.
Weather parameters include factors such as various precipitation conditions
(e.g. rain or dry), which mostly exert their effects indirectly by affecting traffic speed,
and wind direction and speed, which are generally more applicable in rural areas
since urban areas have many wind blocks such as tall buildings.
A final group of factors affecting traffic noise involve the design of buildings.
Namely, people in buildings that are better insulated are influenced less than people
in poorly insulated buildings. Other relevant factors include the number of windows in
a building and how many of them are open.