Having grown up in the Southeast, I’ve always loved a good summer thunderstorm. Sure, thunder can be loud and sometimes scary, but I associate storms with a feeling of coziness. We would seek shelter in the safety of our home, me and my brother hoping the power would go out (it often did) so we’d have an excuse to light candles and eat ice cream before it melted.

Fireworks, on the other hand, I have come to loathe. Now, living in a city, each 4th of July I feel hostage to the relentless booms and the trail of smoke they leave behind.

“Noise” is generally defined as any unwanted sound, or sound that interferes with our ability to hear other things — and it is a form of pollution associated with myriad health impacts. I’m sure many of you will relate to the feeling of annoyance, stress, even anger that can arise from being subjected to nuisance noise. But noise is also often deeply connected to other environmental ills, not always as obviously as smoky fireworks. Many things that cause loud, obnoxious noise also cause harmful air pollution: planes, trucks, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, construction, demolition. A world built on fossil fuels is noisy. Some advocates are fighting back — championing not only our right to live in clean communities, but also in peaceful ones.

“It’s really unbelievable, how much noise impacts so many people,” said Mary Tatigian, who founded a group called Quiet Florida to advocate against noise pollution in 2021, when street and air traffic noise in her community skyrocketed. A registered nurse for 30 years, she began to learn more about the health impacts of the chronic noise she was confronted with.

“Not only does it cause hearing problems, it’s a cardiovascular issue,” she said. “Your heart rate rises, your blood pressure rises. It’s almost like a fight-or-flight system.” Noise exposure can disrupt sleep and increase levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, in the body. It may also bring psychological impacts, like increased anxiety and irritability. “We use the term ‘learned helplessness,’ where you just feel you’re subjected to this noise, all the time, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” said Tatigian.

Read the full article about the health impacts of noise pollution by Claire Elise Thompson at Grist.