Finding California s Quietest Places... And Keeping em at Way
23/09/2016
It's a gorgeous day in the California desert. An autumn breeze, cool for the desert at 80 F, makes the dry leaves of big galleta grass rustle. Two hundred yards or so off to the south, the raucous song of a cactus wren echoes off the rocks. It seems loud, despite the distance: it's just that everything else is so quiet that hearing a bird from a tenth of a mile away is pretty easy.
Eyes closed, you listen for more: the hum of a passing dragonfly; the chatter of a pair of antelope ground squirrels; the pulsing blood in your ears. You can't remember when you were in a place this quiet. You start breathing more deeply. Your shoulders drop down lower and away from your ears. You feel at peace.
And then the dirtbikes show up.
--
--
Noise is one of the least-recognized forms of pollution that people cause. And we cause a lot of it. According to a study done last year by the National Park Service, human activity has radically changed the way the landscape sounds over about half of the 48 contiguous states. Eastward of the Plains states, it's hard to find large areas where the average ambient noise level is below 40 decibels (dB).
That's about the background noise level of a quiet neighborhood with lots of trees. That sounds pretty good, until you remember that it's the background noise level, the combined low roar of all the noisy human activities within a few miles, and that individual annoying sources of noise are added to that. A loud whisper can reach about 40 dB. Imagine someone loudly whispering next to you 24 hours a day. With background noise levels of 40dB, you're getting into the range that's been established to interfere with sleep in some people. And that's an average: half the time, the background noise will be louder. It doesn't need to get a whole lot louder before stress, depression, and long-term cardiovascular complaints can result. Studies indicate that a sixth of Americans 20 and under may have permanent hearing damage from exposure to artificial noise.
Those ailments don't just affect people. Wildlife suffers from human noise as well, whether its due to stresses similar to those humans experience, or inability to be heard over the din when making sounds used for mating or territorial display, or even abandoning otherwise suitable habitat because human noises are just too prevalent.
Average noise levels in the contiguous United States. Dark blue is quiet, yellow is noisy. | Map: National Park Service
Wildlife can also suffer hearing loss from loud noises, even if those noises don't go on for long. The desert kangaroo rat provides a good example. The rat's hearing is so sensitive it can detect a sidewinder - a main kangaroo rat predator - slithering quietly on sand 15 inches away, which is well out of striking distance for most sidewinders. After being exposed to engine noise at 90 dB about 14 feet away on and off for eight minutes, roughly equivalent to what a rat might experience if an off-road vehicle idled nearby, the rats had trouble hearing sidewinders less than an inch away. The rats in this experiment recovered their hearing, and they weren't actually in danger of being eaten by the snake, but rats in the wild generally don't get the opportunity to recover from temporary hearing loss.
And animals that rely on hearing for navigation, like bats, can fare even worse when noise levels get too high.
In the West, fortunately, we're blessed with a relative absence of noise over much of the landscape. There are noisy areas in urban areas and along the highways that connect them. But across the intermountain West, there are plenty of places where you could walk for miles with a background noise level of 26 dB or less - about a third as loud as the quietest places in Ohio.
Along the Hana Highway, Maui | Photo: Brodie Guy, some rights reserved
It's not that those places are silent. Far from it. Wind and bird song and the crunching of your feet on the gravel, rainfall and thunder and coyote song are all found in quiet places, and some of them can be pretty loud. But for the most part, aside from those gravelly footfalls, the sounds there aren't made by humans.
That may seem to be a literally artificial distinction, but it's important. Noise is defined as unwanted sounds. That's a very subjective metric. Your dog's barking may be music to your ears. It ain't necessarily so for the hundred other households within earshot. Music is a perennially popular example of how one person's pleasant sounds are another person's noise.
Across the United States, the majority of noise doesn't come from barking dogs or Justin Bieber. It's made by cars, trucks, and other road vehicles. Aircraft also make a significant contribution. Though the actual sound level of a jet cruising 35,000 feet above your ears may be small, it may well be audible over hundreds of square miles at a time. Industrial machinery adds to the urban roar, as do appliances from air conditioning units to leaf-blowers and chainsaws.
Detail of the NPS noise map. California state line added in red. Los Angeles and San Diego are on the right. | Map: National Park Service
Fortunately for Californians, noise pollution isn't nearly as pervasive here as it is back East. Our cities are as noisy as any others in the country, and in some spots, like Central LA and Long Beach, ambient noise levels can reach someone's vacuuming the room while you're trying to sleep levels. But even after a century of sprawl, California's noisy cities are still mainly limited to the coast and the Interstate 5 corridor through the Central Valley. East of the mountains, California has a lot of a
LINK: | https://www.kcet.org/redefine/finding-californias-quietest-places-and-... |
See more stories from kcet |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
07/05/2024
Disney Streaming DTC Operations Produce Their First Profits
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company has finally delivered some from profits from its hefty streaming investments, with the second quarter of its fiscal year...
07/05/2024
Bonnie Hammer, Jen Psaki Share Books and Workplace Lessons at 92nd Street Y
Bonnie Hammer, vice chair of NBCUniversal, and Jen Psaki, MSNBC host, read from their new books at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan Wednesday, May 8. Hammer's...
07/05/2024
Paramount Plus Orders Tracy Morgan Comedy Set in World of The Neighborhood'
Paramount Plus has ordered the series Crutch, a comedy that is a spinoff of CBS comedy The Neighborhood. Tracy Morgan stars....
07/05/2024
Daytime Emmys Announce Lifetime Achievement Recipients
Edward J. and Melody Thomas Scott and Lidia Bastianich will receive Lifetime Achievement honors at the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards in June, the National Aca...
07/05/2024
Al Roker, Wendy McMahon, Stephen A. Smith Set for Giants of Broadcasting Honors
The 2024 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts luncheon and awards ceremony happens in New York November 12, and the honorees are Al Roker, weather and featu...
07/05/2024
Dabl Debuts New Weekday Schedule
Dabl Network has added The Wayans Bros., The Jamie Foxx Show, Living Single and Everybody Hates Chris to its weekday and weekend lineups. Those shows join the l...
07/05/2024
Disney Entertainment DTC Business Gets Out of the Red in Q2
After winning a proxy fight, The Walt Disney Co. said its entertainment business turned a profit and added subscribers in its fiscal second quarter....
07/05/2024
Victor Wembanyama, Top NBA Rookie, Featured On Pass The Rock'
NBA Entertainment is closing out the second season of its series Pass the Rock with a look at Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, the league's rooki...
07/05/2024
Syncbak Rebrands as Zeam Media After Streaming Platform Rollout
Syncbak, which provides stations with streaming capabilities, said it is rebranding as Zeam Media....
07/05/2024
Magnolia Pictures Licenses Content To Stream on Samsung TV Plus
Samsung has made a deal with Magnolia Pictures that will bring titles from Magnolia to the Samsung TV Plus free streaming platform....
07/05/2024
Amazon Rolling Out Interactive Commercial Formats for Prime Video (Upfronts)
Amazon, which has added commercials to Amazon Prime Video, is rolling out new interactive ad formats that will enable advertisers to engage streamers and sell s...
07/05/2024
Syncbak Now Zeam Media
Syncbak, a 15 year-old provider of streaming tech for local broadcast stations has rebranded itself, adopting the name of its streaming service launched in Febr...
07/05/2024
Maximising resources: Keys to POST Luxembourg's success in the evolving media landscape
POST Luxembourgs journey with TAG Video underscores how finding a vendor who und...
07/05/2024
Survey: Amazon's Push into Ad-Supported Streaming Is Working
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New findings from Hub Entertainment Research provides extensive data showing that the majority of consumers will opt for lower cost ad-supporte...
07/05/2024
The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation Unveils the 2024 Award Recipients
NEW YORK The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has announced th...
07/05/2024
Lindsey Reiser Joins CBS News 24/7 as Anchor and Correspondent
CBS News has named Lindsey Reiser an anchor and correspondent for CBS News 24/7, the network's live, streaming news service. Reiser, who was most recently a...
07/05/2024
Tablet Shipments Show Signs of Recovery in Q1
NEEDHAM, Mass. After more than two years of decline, worldwide tablet shipments posted modest year-over-year growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24),...
07/05/2024
ESPN Pulls in Highest April Prime Time Audiences on Record
ESPN is reporting that April was a record-setting month as the network delivered its best April prime time audience on record, dating back more than 30 years....
07/05/2024
Kirsten Donaldson Joins NAB as VP of Public Policy
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced that Kirsten Donaldson has joined NAB as vice president of public policy. Donaldso...
07/05/2024
Don't miss Bark in the Park, Margaritaville Night & Bull Sharks Night this week at the DBAP
The Bulls are back home again this week from May 7-12! Don't miss out on any...
07/05/2024
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour arrives to shake up Europe
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour arrives to shake up EuropeHaving shaken four continents, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour finally brings the biggest pop culture icon o...
07/05/2024
Isiphetho: Destiny' beats Scandal!'
Isiphetho: Destiny' beats Scandal!'E.tv's latest telenovela Isiphetho: Destiny' beat the channel's longest running soapie, Scandal!' ...
07/05/2024
Now there's HELP for ex-prisoners to find work in South Africa
Now there's HELP for ex-prisoners to find work in South AfricaNew initiative for ex-prisoners to find work in South Africa proves it's never too late fo...
07/05/2024
Tonight on Scandal: Cohen is pulled into keeping a secret
Tonight on Scandal: Cohen is pulled into keeping a secretDon't miss Tuesday, 7 May's riveting episode of South African soapie Scandal! on e.tv on DStv c...
07/05/2024
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 6 May 2024 [video]
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 6 May 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soapie...
06/05/2024
Gathering Is a Call to Action: A Letter From Ilyse McKimmie
By Ilyse McKimmie Now, more than ever That's a phrase so often used in the last few years that I've come to dread seeing it in notes like this one. A...
06/05/2024
From Petabytes To Exabytes: The Future Of Shared Storage
alt= class=wp-image-12099 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Blog-Exabyte-Storage-Demand-960x540-1.jpg/> Demand for storage solutions has reached unprece...
06/05/2024
Spotify Uplifts Bold, Emerging Artists in Honor of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Around the world, Asian and Pacific Islander (API) artists continue to impact mu...
06/05/2024
Never Miss a New Release With Countdown Pages for Audiobooks
Spotify is making it easier for booklovers to count down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until a new audiobook releases. With Countdown Pages for audioboo...
06/05/2024
Get Ready to join Dan Hong as he hits the streets in his ultimate culinary journey
Get Ready to join Dan Hong as he hits the streets in his ultimate culinary journ...
06/05/2024
Lighting a Day-Interior Caf With LEE Filters
In this video, cinematographer Simon Rowling welcomes viewers behind the scenes as he lights a daytime-interior scene inside a coffee shop. Shooting on Panavisi...
06/05/2024
Technology for the Next Generation of Special Forces
L3Harris is well positioned to support the complex and multifaceted nature of special operations forces in all domains through our agile and responsive technolo...
06/05/2024
Canada Plans May 8 Public Alert System Test
OAKVILLE, Ontario As part of Emergency Preparedness Week, Alert Ready, Canadas national public alerting system, will be distributing a test alert to Canadians i...
06/05/2024
Survey: Pay TV Penetration Falls to 40% in U.S. Hispanic Homes
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. Horowitz Research has released a new study on the viewing and media habits of U.S. Hispanic/Latine audiences that shows a dramatic decline in...
06/05/2024
RE:Vision Effects Autograph 2024.4 released! 50% Off Through May 9th
RE:Vision Effects Autograph 2024.4 released! 50% Off Through May 9th Brie Clayton May 6, 2024 0 Comments New game-changing motion graphics & VFX featu...
06/05/2024
NBC Orders More Night Court'
NBC has renewed Night Court for a third season. The courtroom comedy was on the network from 1984 to 1992, and NBC rebooted it in early 2023....
06/05/2024
ABC Shares Summer Premiere Dates
ABC has revealed its summer schedule. The Bachelorette gets going Monday, July 8, with Jenn Tran the star in season 21. Celebrity Family Feud starts up Tuesday,...
06/05/2024
Holly Springs Salamanders Home Opener Less Than Three Weeks Away, Tickets on Sale Now
It's almost go-time for the Holly Springs Salamanders! The season opener is ...
06/05/2024
Tonight on Scandal: Deception is rife as a man places his trust in the unfaithful
Tonight on Scandal: Deception is rife as a man places his trust in the unfaithfu...
06/05/2024
Rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar turns NASTY
Rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar turns NASTYA long-simmering feud between rap titans Drake and Kendrick Lamar has exploded into allegations of pedophil...
06/05/2024
INRED and SES to Provide High-Throughput Connectivity Across Colombia's Amazonas
The Amazonas Digital initiative will see INRED leverage SES's MEO satellites...
06/05/2024
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Kobus busts Pretty in a compromising position
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Kobus busts Pretty in a compromising positionDon't miss Monday, 6 May's riveting episode of South African soapie Skeem Saam on SA...
06/05/2024
Tonight on House of Zwide: Bra Zakes and Sphamandla agree to leave Tembisa and never come back
Tonight on House of Zwide: Bra Zakes and Sphamandla agree to leave Tembisa and n...
06/05/2024
RT Announces Series of Major TV Debates as part of its European Parliament Election Coverage
RT has announced details of its coverage across digital, TV and Radio in the ru...
06/05/2024
The Pros and Cons of Cloud, Hybrid, or On-Premises Radio Operations
For years, radio stations have used on-premises servers to broadcast content and manage automation, traffic, and billing systems. As technology continues to adv...
06/05/2024
AI and Big Data Take the Centre Stage in Central Asia at Beetech 2024 Hosted by Beeline Kazakhstan and QazCode
06 May 2024 AI and Big Data Take the Centre Stage in Central Asia at Beetech 20...
06/05/2024
FIRST LOOK AT JIM PARSONS & MAYIM BIALIK REPRISING THEIR ROLES FROM THE BIG BANG THEORY ON THE SERIES FINALE OF YOUNG SHELDON, MAY 16 ON CBS!
FIRST LOOK AT JIM PARSONS & MAYIM BIALIK REPRISING THEIR ROLES FROM THE BIG BAN...