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by Jamie Banks, MSc, PhD, President, Quiet Communities Inc., and Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
The European Union Against Aircraft Nuisances, or UECNA, is sponsoring a major international conference, Tackling Aviation Noise, on November 5, from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm CEST in Brussels, Belgium (8:00 am to noon EST, 5:00 am to 9:00 am PST). The conference agenda can be accessed here.
Among the speakers are Dr. Arline Bronzaft, Honorary Chair of the Quiet American Skies program at Quiet Communities and Elaine Miller, a Quiet American Skies team member and cofounder of Plane Sense 4 Long Island (NY). Registration is free and more information can be found on the UECNA website.
In addition to the conference, a recent issue of the UECNA Newsletter also mentions the recent triennial report of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency which is packed with useful facts.
· During 2019 before the pandemic, data from 98 European airports show that 3.2 million people were exposed to Lden (day-evening-night noise) aircraft noise levels above 55 decibels (dB) and 1.3 million people had more than 50 daily aircraft noise events above 70 dB. Compared to 2005, that’s 30% and 71% more people, respectively. These noise exposure levels exceed to World Health Organization’s aviation noise guidelines for protecting human health.
· The report notes that aircraft noise events may be a better measure of the impact of aircraft noise than average day-evening-night levels. The use of average levels as a metric has come under criticism in the US as well as internationally.
We urge our members and followers to read the report, register for the conference, subscribe to the UECNA newsletter, and participate in other UECNA events.
