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Noise pollution
噪音污染
Noise pollution can cause health problems for people and wildlife, both on land and in the sea. From traffic noise to rock concerts, loud or inescapable sounds can cause hearing loss, stress, and high blood pressure. Noise from ships and human activities in the ocean is harmful to whales and dolphins that depend on echolocation to survive.
噪音污染会给陆地和海洋中的人类和野生动物带来健康问题。从交通噪音到摇滚音乐会，巨大或不可避免的声音都会导致听力损失、压力和高血压。来自海洋的船只和人类活动的噪音对依赖回声定位生存的鲸鱼和海豚都有害。
Noise pollution is an invisible danger. It cannot be seen, but it is present nonetheless, both on land and under the sea. Noise pollution is considered to be any unwanted or disturbing sound that affects the health and well-being of humans and other organisms.
噪音污染是一种无形的危险。它看不见，但它仍然存在，无论是在陆地上还是在海底。噪音污染被认为是影响人类和其他生物健康和福祉的任何令人讨厌或不安的声音。
Sound is measured in decibels. There are many sounds in the environment, from rustling leaves (20 to 30 decibels) to a thunderclap (120 decibels) to the wail of a siren (120 to 140 decibels). Sounds that reach 85 decibels or higher can harm a person’s ears. Sound sources that exceed this threshold include familiar things, such as power lawn mowers (90 decibels), subway trains (90 to 115 decibels), and loud rock concerts (110 to 120 decibels).
声音以分贝为单位。环境中有很多声音，从树叶沙沙作响（20到30分贝）到雷声（120分贝）再到警笛声（120到140分贝）。85分贝或更高的声音会伤害人的耳朵。超过这一阈值的声源包括熟悉的东西，如电动割草机（90分贝）、地铁列车（90至115分贝）和喧闹的摇滚音乐会（110至120分贝）。
Noise pollution impacts millions of people on a daily basis. The most common health problem it causes is Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Exposure to loud noise can also cause high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbances, and stress. These health problems can affect all age groups, especially children. Many children who live near noisy airports or streets have been found to suffer from stress and other problems, such as impairments in memory, attention level, and reading skill.
噪音污染每天影响数百万人。它引起的最常见的健康问题是噪音性听力损失（NIHL）。暴露在大噪音中也会导致高血压、心脏病、睡眠障碍和压力。这些健康问题会影响所有年龄段的人，尤其是儿童。许多居住在嘈杂的机场或街道附近的儿童被发现患有压力和其他问题，如记忆力、注意力水平和阅读技能方面的障碍。
Noise pollution also impacts the health and well-being of wildlife. Studies have shown that loud noises can cause caterpillars' dorsal vessels (the insect equivalent of a heart) to beat faster, and cause bluebirds to have fewer chicks. Animals use sound for a variety of reasons, including to navigate, find food, attract mates, and avoid predators. Noise pollution makes it difficult for them to accomplish these tasks, which affects their ability survive.
噪音污染也会影响野生动物的健康和福祉。研究表明，巨大的噪音会导致毛虫的背血管（相当于昆虫的心脏）跳动更快，并导致蓝鸟的雏鸟数量减少。动物使用声音的原因多种多样，包括导航、寻找食物、吸引配偶和躲避捕食者。噪音污染使它们难以完成这些任务，影响了它们的生存能力。
Increasing noise is not only affecting animals on land, it is also a growing problem for those that live in the ocean. Ships, oil drills, sonar devices, and seismic tests have made the once tranquil marine environment loud and chaotic. Whales and dolphins are particularly impacted by noise pollution. These marine mammals rely on echolocation to communicate, navigate, feed, and find mates, and excess noise interferes with their ability to effectively echolocate.
不断增加的噪音不仅影响到陆地上的动物，对生活在海洋中的动物来说也是一个日益严重的问题。船只、石油钻机、声纳设备和地震测试使曾经平静的海洋环境变得嘈杂而混乱。鲸鱼和海豚尤其受到噪音污染的影响。这些海洋哺乳动物依靠回声定位来交流、导航、觅食和寻找配偶，而过多的噪音会干扰它们有效回声定位的能力。
Some of the loudest underwater noise comes from naval sonar devices. Sonar, like echolocation, works by sending pulses of sound down into the depths of the ocean to bounce off an object and return an echo to the ship, which indicates a location for object. Sonar sounds can be as loud as 235 decibels and travel hundreds of miles under water, interfering with whales’ ability to use echolocation. Research has shown that sonar can cause mass strandings of whales on beaches and alter the feeding behavior of endangered blue whales. Environmental groups are urging the U.S. Navy to stop or reduce using sonar for military training.
一些最响亮的水下噪音来自海军声纳设备。声纳和回声定位一样，其工作原理是将声音脉冲向下发送到海洋深处，从物体上反弹并将回声返回到船上，从而指示物体的位置。声纳的声音可以高达235分贝，在水下传播数百英里，干扰鲸鱼使用回声定位的能力。研究表明，声纳可以导致鲸鱼在海滩上大规模搁浅，并改变濒危蓝鲸的进食行为。环保组织敦促美国海军停止或减少使用声纳进行军事训练。
Seismic surveys also produce loud blasts of sound within the ocean. Ships looking for deep-sea oil or gas deposits tow devices called air guns and shoot pulses of sound down to the ocean floor. The sound blasts can damage the ears of marine animals and cause serious injury. Scientists believe this noise may also be contributing to the altered behavior of whales.
地震勘测也会在海洋中产生巨大的爆炸声。寻找深海石油或天然气沉积物的船只拖曳称为气枪的装置，并向海底发射声音脉冲。爆炸声会损坏海洋动物的耳朵，造成严重伤害。科学家们认为，这种噪音也可能导致鲸鱼行为的改变。
Among those researching the effects of noise pollution is Michel Andre, a bioacoustics researcher in Spain who is recording ocean sounds using instruments called hydrophones. His project, LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean Environment), collects data at 22 different locations. Back in the lab, computers identify the sounds of human activities as well as 26 species of whales and dolphins. The analysis aims to determine the effects that underwater noise is having on these animals. Andre hopes his project will find ways to protect marine animals from the dangers of ocean noise.
西班牙的生物声学研究员米歇尔·安德烈是研究噪音污染影响的人之一，他正在使用一种名为水听器的仪器记录海洋声音。他的项目LIDO（倾听深海环境）收集了22个不同地点的数据。回到实验室，计算机可以识别人类活动的声音以及26种鲸鱼和海豚。该分析旨在确定水下噪音对这些动物的影响。安德烈希望他的项目能找到保护海洋动物免受海洋噪音危害的方法。
【Source】www.education.nationalgeographic.org
【Translated by】Spark Liao (廖怀宝)
【Illustration】From Bing
