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Shared Planet

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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

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Series exploring the complex interface between a growing human population and wildlife

Monty Don presents a series exploring the complex interface between a growing human population and wildlife

Shared Planet: Noise in the Environment

17/12/2013

Noise in the Environment

BBC Radio 4 - Shared Planet, Noise in the Environment

Monty Don asks if human-produced noise removes us from the natural world.

Does human-produced noise remove us from the natural world? Monty Don explores this question through the difficulty of hearing natural sounds in the countryside.

Before the arrival of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th Century many believe the planet was largely a silent place. However what this overlooks is that the natural world is an incredibly noisy environment as species communicate between each other sometimes over vast distances. What has changed is that from around 1800 one species on the planet is arguably losing its ability to hear the presence of natural sound, and that species is Homo sapiens. Today the amount of anthropogenic noise 7 billion people produce across this planet is for many resulting in a disconnection with our natural neighbours and an inability to experience silence. If we can no longer hear the natural world, are we possibly becoming disconnected from everything around us? Monty Don explores this question through the difficulty of hearing natural sounds in the countryside without the interference of human noise.


Producer : Andrew Dawes.

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