With roaring ships, hammering oil drill, industrial fishing and coastal construction, humans have strongly influenced the underwater soundscape over the past couple of hundred years — in some cases posting a threat to whales, dolphins and other ocean creatures. Until recently, underwater sound pollution had not attracted the same attention. Now, a new paper published in the journal Science lays out the impacts, demonstrating that noise pollution can be just as harmful to the ocean environment as other kinds of pollution.
Even the cracking of glaciers and any drop of rain falling on the water’s surface can be heard deep under the sea. Sea life uses sound to study their habitat, and to keep in communication with each other. They also use sound to know something about their environment. However, the loud noise from human beings would make it in vain.
“It’s a long-lasting problem that certainly weakens the animals all the way from individuals to populations,” says lead author Carlos M. Duarte, distinguished professor at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), “We are hoping that this report will not only reveal elements of how humans impact the ocean through sound pollution, but that it will also bring the topic to the attention of policymakers who will be able to act based upon the very real solutions.”
Marine ecologist Kirsten Thompson of the United Kingdom’s University of Exeter, who was not involved in the study, said the report could not have come at a better time. “It summarizes the fact that we are in this new phase of human-caused noise in our oceans that is having a dramatic impact on different species.” What matters most, she notes, is the fact that the paper “doesn’t just point at the problem, but it shows how to solve it.”
Unlike plastic pollution or fertilizer runoff, noise pollution will not take years to fix. The moment we switch our noise off, the impact disappears, Duarte says, pointing to marine life surveys conducted around April 5, 2020. Having the world use more renewable energy would lessen the need to drill for oil and gas. The international team of researchers also called for a global regulatory framework for measuring and managing ocean noise.
8. Which of the following threatens ocean creatures?
A.Travel industry. | B.Human activities. | C.Construction companies. | D.Sailing off the coast. |
9. Why noise pollution is harmful to the ocean environment?
A.Ocean animals can’t fall asleep. | B.It causes the cracking of glaciers. |
C.It’s a signal to the lower sea level. | D.It disturbs the behavior of sea life. |
10. What can we infer from Kirsten Thompson?
A.The solutions are already available. | B.She is one of the paper’s co-authors. |
C.The report does not come at the right time. | D.The report has raised great attention from seamen. |
11. What could be the best title for the passage?
A.Ocean noise is hard to root out. | B.Ocean noise has been addressed. |
C.Formation of ocean noise is obvious. | D.Noise pollution threatens ocean creatures. |