News / Environment
Animal threat from noise pollution
A University of Bristol study has revealed the danger traffic noise poses to animals.
High levels of man-made noise are putting animals at unnaturally high risk from predators, researchers say, because the noise interferes with animals registering vital warning signals from others.
It is unclear whether animals simply cannot hear the warning signals, or whether noise pollution is playing havoc with their sleep patterns – causing stress and delayed reactions.
is needed now More than ever
Animals are well known to communicate within their own species, and many can even understand the alarm calls of other species’ that share their habitat. But these finely balanced ecosystems are being put at threat by increasing urbanisation and heavy road use. Just as light pollution from humans has affected urban habitats, so too might sound pollution.
Professor Andy Radford said: “We’ve known for a long time that noise from urbanisation, traffic and airports can detrimentally affect humans by causing stress, sleep deprivation, cardiac problems and slower learning. What’s becoming increasingly clear is that a lot of other species – mammals, birds, fish, insects and amphibians – are also impacted in all sorts of ways by man-made noise.”
With no end in sight to urbanisation as the human population continues to grow, it could be bad news for animals in more ways than one.
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