Photo credit: Min An
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
The Guardian (UK) has a sad, poignant article by reporter Phoebe Weston about how climate change is shifting the soundscape of nature. Weston writes about soundscape recordist Bernie Krause, who has been recording sounds in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park north of San Francisco for about 30 years. Krause has ADHD and found that recording the natural soundscape was calming for him. Krause returned to the park every April to record its soundscape.
“In his first recording, a stream of chortles, peeps and squeaks erupt from the animals that lived in the rich, scrubby habitat. His sensitive microphones captured the sound of the creek, creatures rustling through the undergrowth, and the songs of the spotted towhee, orange-crowned warbler, house wren, and mourning dove,” Weston wrote.
In 2009, Krause realized that the soundscape had changed. There was a subtle loss in the density and variety of the sounds. Krause also realized that trees were blossoming earlier, out of sync with the birds arriving along the Pacific Flyway. Unfortunately, as a consequence of historic drought in California, Krause’s home burned to the ground and 70% of the park also burned in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. Krause and his wife lost everything they owned, but fortunately, copies of his recordings were stored remotely. When Krause returned last year, there was no water in the creek and no sounds during an hour’s recording.
Weston mentions Rachel Carson’s 1962 classic, “Silent Spring,” which covers her awakening to the increasing use of pesticides. Krause’s “silent spring” is caused by climate change. Both are warning signs that human activity is harming nature. One of the main contributors to climate change is heat and emissions from internal combustion engines. The ongoing switch to electric vehicles — in California almost a quarter of all new cars are ZEVs, or Zero Emission Vehicles — is one hopeful sign.
The noise connection isn’t just Krause’s silent spring. EVs are quieter than conventionally-powered vehicles, so reducing climate change-causing emissions by driving EVs will also help the world become quieter. A quieter world with cleaner air will be a better and healthier world for all.
