Author: geonoise

In 1992, Lindy Weilgart spent a year traipsing around the Pacific, following several groups of sperm whales as they moved between the coasts of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Then a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, Weilgart was monitoring whale codas: the short, punctuated clicking-sounds that whales use to communicate. But as she spent more time on the ocean, she noticed how sensitive the whales were to noise. “Even a little splash by a swimmer would freak them out,” she recalls.
Human-caused noise pollution in the world’s oceans is causing problems for marine animals like dolphins, which rely on sound for communication. (Visual by Niklas Morberg/Flickr)

Human-caused noise pollution in the world’s oceans is causing problems for marine animals like dolphins, which rely on sound for communication. (Visual by Niklas Morberg/Flickr)

That realization, coupled with an awareness of how much noise humans were adding to the marine ecosystem “completely derailed me,” Weilgart says. Now a researcher at Dalhousie University, Weilgart writes about the effects of sound on marine life, joining a group of researchers who are increasingly concerned about the growing noise pollution in our oceans.

Increased activity and traffic from boats, commercial shipping traffic, military sonar systems, and seismic air guns — used by oil companies to detect natural gas deposits — have all contributed to what scientists call a “cocktail party effect,” an accumulation of sounds that threaten underwater life.

“Twenty years ago, the issue was virtually nonexistent, but since then there’s been a great infusion of science and regulatory concern,” says Michael Jasny, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

A documentary exploring the trouble with noisy waters debuted on the Discovery Channel last week, coupled with a Whitehouse.gov petition asking for enhanced regulations. As of Monday, the petition — which was created by Discovery, the NRDC, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare — had 10,137 of the 100,000 signatures needed for a response.

In sea water, sound travels around 1,500 meters per second, about four times faster than it does in the air. And it travels farther, explaining why whales can communicate across such large distances.

“Marine mammals have evolved to take advantage of this basic physical fact to rely on hearing for virtually everything they do in the wild,” Jasny says. “We have radically altered a critical element of the marine environment.”

Noise from small vehicles, like motorboats, can block sounds, making fish more susceptible to predators, while noise from commercial shipping can occur at frequencies used by killer whales for echolocation.

More compelling is the critical mass of anecdotal evidence of whales coming ashore to die during sonar exercises. Scientists are now beginning to believe that sonar can give whales a form of ‘the bends,’ where gases build into air bubbles inside the body.

But figuring out how to temper underwater sound is harder than it looks. In 1972, Congress passed the Marine Mammals Protection Act, which requires that companies that harm marine life as a side effect of their business receive a go-ahead from wildlife organizations before conducting activities. Yet for the most part, companies haven’t followed this rule.

Even tracking noise from ships and other marine-based technology is tricky. In one study, a sound deployed off of Heard Island, in the southern Indian Ocean, was picked up by far-off monitors in the Northern and Southern Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Pacific. Getting a solid figure on how much this type of sound has increased is difficult, requiring a calibrated underwater microphone to be stationary over a period of decades. Using a sound surveillance system put in place during the Cold War, the U.S. Navy has tracked the rise of ocean noise in some locations. Surveying this data, scientists have discovered a steady increase of noise each decade, roughly corresponding with the doubling of commercial vessels between 1965 and 2003.

Still, despite all the challenges, researchers see a path forward. Some scientists have recommended that ocean noise be recognized as a pollutant, with global caps similar to those used for air pollution. Others have recommended creating designated quiet zones that would act as preserves for marine life.

“The point is not to have all human activity grind to a halt, and eliminate all shipping, all oil and gas exploration, all naval exercises,” says Weilgart. “But there are ways, there are solutions, for all these noise sources.”

Source: undark.org

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Government today (April 15) announced in the Gazette the revision of fees under the Noise Control Ordinance.

The Noise Control (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2016, the Noise Control (Air Compressors) (Amendment) Regulation 2016 and the Noise Control (Hand Held Percussive Breakers) (Amendment) Regulation 2016 for implementing the revision of fees will be tabled at the Legislative Council next Wednesday (April 20). The new fees are scheduled to take effect on July 1.

Under the revised fees, application fees for a Construction Noise Permit for percussive piling and other construction work under the Noise Control (General) Regulations will be adjusted from $910 and $1,000 to $1,980 and $2,610 respectively. The application fee for a Noise Emission Label for an air compressor and a handheld percussive breaker under the Noise Control (Air Compressors) Regulations and the Noise Control (Hand Held Percussive Breakers) Regulations will be adjusted from $490 to $530.

“The fees were last revised in July 2008.

This revision of fees is made in accordance with the ‘user pays’ principle, which would allow the Government to achieve full cost recovery immediately,” a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said.

“The EPD has been reducing costs of providing services by continuously improving efficiency and reducing expenditure. We will continue to take different measures to contain costs,” he said.

Source: http://7thspace.com/

HKUST nanotechnology research reduces low-frequency noise irritations

In Professor Ping Sheng’s world of nano-science research, the relationship between a manometer and a single human blood cell is similar to the relationship between a kilometer and a millimeter. The research work is never predictable, and is frustrating at times. But it’s always exhilarating, says Sheng, who is the Dr William M.W. Mong chair professor of nano-science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

Nanotechnology, which is the science of extremely small things, was first discussed in the late 1950s. Sheng says the discipline has now evolved to the stage where many objects in daily use, such as microchips, have been miniaturized to the sub-100 manometer scale. “From scientific wishful thinking, we have moved to commercialization, and the discovery of new nano materials that provide a vast range of applications,” says Sheng, who joined the HKUST in1994.

Studying the behavior and application of extremely small things has become much broader now that nano elements that consumers don’t notice are embedded in commonplace products, he adds. “These days, if you say you work in nano research, people just say, ‘Oh, that’s interesting’. So you have to be more specific. That’s a good thing, because it shows nanotechnology has become part of the mainstream.”

Sheng’s nano-physics research, which involves the study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale, led to the discovery of resonant sonic materials that break the mass density law in shielding low frequency sound. Put simply, the professor’s discovery can be used to produce materials to absorb or block low-frequency sounds produced by construction sites, railroads, airports, diesel turbines, electric transformers, and even the low-frequency hum produced by green energy producing windmills.

“The material is almost one 100 per cent efficient ageist protection against even the most pernicious low-frequency sounds,” explains the professor. The World Health Organisation recognizes the special position of low-frequency noise as an environmental problem, particularly to sensitive people in their homes. Materials made from the professor’s research discovery can also be used to improve indoor acoustic quality, provide sound proofing, and absorb the low frequency noise made by fans.

Regulators around the world are becoming less tolerant of industries and products that produce low frequency noise, Sheng says, so the demand for low-frequency sound absorbing materials is expected to grow. Discussions are currently taking place between the HKUST and a private company with a view to commercializing the professor’s discovery.

Sheng has also turned his attention to the electromagnetically (ER) effect in suspensions of particles, or the process of applying electricity to certain nano particles in liquids that turn them into a solid form in a matter of milliseconds. The process has been proposed as a method of constructing shock absorbers on magnetically levitated trains.

“At first, our findings produced material with the consistency of tofu,” Sheng says. “But further research led to the discovery of a common molecule found in fertilizer and plants, which has viscosity-changing qualities that turns liquids into solid plastic-like substances.” electricity is applied, the material becomes a “smart” material which can be used in robotic hands to actuate cause small movements. Sheng’s nano particle technology has been licensed to a Hong Kong company with a production line in Shenzhen. He has also initiated and the effort that led to the solution of minimum energy dissipation, the classical problem of moving contact line in immiscible flows, by using the Onsager’s principle.

Sheng decided he wanted to become a scientist at an early age. During his elementary school years, he was inspired by Chinese-born American physicist Lee Tsung-dao, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 with (Franklin) Yang Chen-ning. At university, he took courses given by Richard Feynman, the father of nanotechnology. Sheng also attended courses by theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, one of the world’s leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

Although he shrugs off the suggestion he is a source of inspiration for his students, Sheng says he gets immense satisfaction from mentoring them. Sometimes learns from them, too, he says. Sheng says that HKUST motivates him to to pursue scientific inquiry, ask the bigger questions, and never be deterred from overcoming a challenge to provide clarity. “There are frustrations, but that’s what research involves,” says Sheng. “Nature never cheats you, so you need to keep looking for solutions.”

Sheng says HKUST consistently attracts high-caliber students, and has a first-class faculty to conduct world-class research. That’s the key to successful scientific research, he adds. Sheng cites the advantage that comes from HKUST research proposals becoming known to the international community.

“If a proposal is not up to an international level, it will be rejected,” says Sheng, adding that this keeps HKUST research activities in the global arena, and ensures the quality remains high. “The success rate of HKUST’s proposals reflect the quality of the research work undertaken by the university,” notes Sheng.

Sourcee: http://www.lettersfromthailand.com/

Siem Reap hospitality businesses have called for action to address noise issues around Pub Street they say are affecting the city’s appeal to more lucrative tourists.

The Cambodia Hotel Association collected letters from the businesses and forwarded them to Siem Reap provincial governor Khim Bun Song this week asking him to enforce existing noise pollution laws.

The letters were gathered on the advice of the Ministry of Tourism as part of a consultation exercise in conjunction with the Cambodia Tourism Federation and Government-Private Sector Forum Tourism.

Carrol Sahaidak-Beaver, executive director of the CHA, said: “We were asked by the Ministry of Tourism to identify specific details on where there were issues so they could take action.” Sahaidak-Beaver did not say how many letters were submitted, but said that they identified specific areas, venues and time frames.

Cambodian anti-noise pollution laws specify noise levels in mixed commercial and service areas should not exceed 65 decibels between 6pm and 10pm, and 50 decibels from 10pm until the following morning. Daytime noise in such areas is permitted up to 70 decibels. Fifty decibels is equivalent to the sound of a dishwasher in an adjacent room.

On most nights along Pub Street after 10pm, dance music thumps from Angkor What? Bar and Temple Club, while live bands clang and caterwaul upstairs at Beer Battle and Triangle. Further along, karaoke singers bawl out of Corner Bar, startling diners in nearby restaurants who strain to catch each other’s conversations over cooling plates of fish amok.

Local business owners complain that with the noise, the lights and streets overrun with drinks carts, the overall impression is less than dignified, and their businesses are suffering as a result. They also feel that in a city dependent on cultural tourism driven by the temples of Angkor, the atmosphere is incongruous.

In common with many that Post Weekend spoke to, the owner of one well-established business in the area, who wished to remain anonymous, feels that Pub Street has lost its charm.

“The impression now is that of a cheap Kao San Road [the notoriously tawdry Bangkok backpacker district]. It’s disorganised, overcrowded, dirty, and a deafening loud, chaotic mess,” he said.

Caught between the competing dins, he is losing business as a result as diners choose to take their business where they can actually hear one another speak.

Sahaidak-Beaver agrees. “Pub Street is a condensed area that frankly is losing its value just for that reason,” she said. “The excitement of a lot going on struggles against the increasing middle to upper-middle class tourist that does not want to be accosted by noise and conflicting entertainment.

I avoid Pub Street in that there is nowhere to sit where you aren’t hearing two or three or more other facilities. This is not fun.”

Martin Dishman, the owner of Linga Bar and Hotel Be, has watched guests check out after only one night in his three-room boutique hotel on The Passage.

“We have had many guests stay one night and flee the next day because they couldn’t handle the noise,” he said. “Once that got into reviews, people began to understand the location was noisy, but not everyone can deal with it. As a result, our business has suffered. Where I once had five hotel staff, I now have just two.”

The issue seems to have worsened over the years, in particular as competition between the two clubs at the top end of Pub Street has intensified.

Alex Sutherland, the owner of Angkor What? Bar, acknowledged that there was a problem, and said that he would like to see a resolution that allowed everyone to continue to enjoy themselves while respecting other businesses.

“I’d like to see the clubs closed off, so that the sound is contained inside where you can play as loud as you like without disturbing anyone on the street,” he said.

Post Weekend contacted Temple Club for a comment but were told that the owners were not available.

Sahaidak-Beaver said the CHA and its members wanted the existing law to be enforced, not just for the benefit of their members but also for the general public.

“This is just not about our businesses,” she said. “It is about children sleeping, it is about the effect on families, it is about the decibels that are destroying hearing. We need to be concerned about this.

“I think it is time for these facilities to recognize the right of individual facilities to ensure the right of enjoyment in each one.”

Another business owner whose trade has also been affected, and who wished to remain anonymous, echoed the view of many in hoping that action may soon be taken.

“I think that the local authorities understand the need for this area to attract a wide range of tourists and that Siem Reap’s economy is very dependent on cultural tourism.

“I think everyone is working to make Siem Reap a more distinguished destination. We have recently had the new code of conduct for the temples, the beautification of the riverside and a number of international accolades, and I hope that noise pollution will be addressed shortly.”

Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/calls-shhh-noisy-pub-street