Noise pollution is all around us. People living in cities are especially susceptible as they are regularly exposed to a cacophony of excessive sounds from sources like traffic, trains, construction work, and airports. All these threaten our right to peace and quiet. 

A recent New Yorker article suggests noise pollution is a candidate for the "next big public-health crisis". Twelve per cent of the working population already experiences hearing difficulty in some capacity. Studies suggest that constant long-term exposure to excessive noise puts you at a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and insomnia.   

As well as having a significant impact on human health, toxic noise levels are doing devastating damage to our ecosystems. Acoustic pollution in our oceans has dramatically increased in the past 50 years. Noise caused by cargo ships, military vessels, sonar, and seismic tools impedes the communication and survival of sea life. The steady drone of commercial shipping lanes is altering whale behaviour causing chronic stress. Studies show that whales are extremely sensitive to high pitch frequencies and they will make frantic efforts to escape seismic air guns or navy sonar. This has forced them to change their dive patterns; some resurface too quickly and die from decompression sickness.

An article by the editors of Marine Science Today stated that seismic testing can kill fish eggs and larvae and scare fish away from important habitats. Other studies have discovered that adult fish within 5 metres of a seismic air gun can suffer damage to their swim bladders and ear cells that may take weeks or months to recover. Additional side effects can include internal bleeding and blindness. In 2008 in Canada's Baffin Bay, conducted underwater seismic testing. This noise confused and deferred the southward migration of narwhals. This delay in their migration left them trapped in sea ice. One thousand narwhals died as a result.

If we could see noise pollution, we would better understand how noise has become a top environmental hazard of the modern day. Noise pollution affects our physical and mental health and well-being.

Solving the environmental noise problem has been difficult. Progress is being made as growing awareness and support for the right to silence persists. We can now take steps to combat excessive noise levels, like how we can better plan our cities to reduce noise levels, especially where the sound is significantly harmful. Test mining and drilling components require an environmental impact assessment, of which noise measurement is included, adding that testing will provide a better understanding of the potential impact of noise on the deep sea bed and deep-sea biodiversity. 

Noise pollution has negative effects on many marine species. As they are already facing increasing pressures from climate change and overfishing, we must reduce our impacts where we can and as much as we can. To reduce underwater noise, we need policies to reduce propeller noise from ships and people, mitigating sounds of sonar equipment, seismic air guns, pile driving and construction. We also need to develop quieter technologies, making it easier to reduce noise pollution. These actions can improve the ocean soundscape and potentially enable the recovery of some marine life.