Photo credit: Aleksandr Neplokhov from Pexels
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, and Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition
While I hold a Ph.D. in psychology and have taught and done research in the field of psychology, I have to confess that my major in college was zoology. This might explain my interest in species other than humans as well as my concern for their survival on this planet, especially when human beings have treated the earth so shabbily. Thus, while my research and writings focus on how sound and noise impact on people, I am still drawn to studies on the sounds of animals, especially those of Bernie Krause who is well-known for his work in bioacoustics.
Abby Wendle in “Human Life is Literally Quieter Due to Coronavirus Lockdown,” asks how the natural world is reacting “in the absence of all the noise we usually make.” She turns to Bernie Krause, who has recorded sounds in the natural world for the past fifty years, for an answer. He responds by telling her about the time he was recording thousands of frogs gathering in the Spring at a lake in California only to have their gathering interrupted by overhead jets. When the frogs tried to regather, they became vulnerable to owls and a coyote who “came in and picked off a couple of frogs.” Mr. Krause goes on to say how our helicopters, tractors and traffic creating lots of noise harm birds as well as frogs.
Yes, man-made noises endanger the lives of other species in our environment as well as being hazardous to our hearing and overall mental and physical health. So now with greater quiet in our world, due to what I would consider a horrific pandemic, frogs, birds, and numerous other species are being harmed less. Ms. Wendle says that with this newfound stillness “the earth, is, like, literally humming underneath our feet.” She concludes that with humans now interacting with their world differently, e.g. listening to insects buzzing in flowers, it might be possible that when this pandemic “passes,” they will remember the effects of their noises on the well-being of other species. Possibly, we humans will then be more respectful of other animals to which this land also belongs.
