With the advance of human society, along with the development of modern science and technology, people are faced with an increasing number of pollutions. One of the severe pollutions is noise pollution. Many parents express their complaints over noise pollution, especially car alarms.

Anchor

Almost anyone who has lived in a big city can tell you how irritating it is to be awakened in the middle of the night by the wail of a car alarm. The loss of sleep can drive you crazy, but this is just one in a long list of problems that such high decibel noises can cause.

Jonathan

People in this noisy neighborhood in upper Manhattan are fed up with car alarms. They're angry enough at being jolted awake several times a week, but more than that they worry about what effect these alarms will have on their children. Already studies have shown that continuous exposure to high-decibel noise can cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

Andrea

By the time my child can read, he will already have been exposed to the constant roar of the traffic, but the intense siren of a car alarm is way above the level of safety.

Michael

I have a valid concern. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), exposure to noise above 85 decibels for 8 hours or more is a danger to your health. City traffic and trucks are about 90 decibels. The siren of a car alarm is about 120 decibels, about the same as a plane taking off.

The parents here are sick and tired of listening to the shrill siren of car alarms. However, it's for their children that they are most concerned. They've started a group called Parents to Silence Car Alarms. They don't think that making the owner of a car pay a fine is enough. These parents have started a campaign to have car alarms banned.

In today’s world, almost everyone knows that air pollution and water pollution are harmful to people’s health. However, not all the persons know that noise is also a kind of pollution, and that is harmful to human health, too.

People who work and live under noisy conditions usually become deaf. Today, however, scientists believe that 10 percent of workers in Britain are being deafened by the noise where they work. Many of the workers who print newspapers and books, and who weave (织) cloth become deaf. Quite a few people living near airports also become deaf. Recently it was discovered that many teenagers in America could hear no better than 65-year-old persons, for these young people like to listen to pop music and most of pop music is a kind of noise. Besides, noise produced by jet planes or machines will make people’s life difficult and unpleasant, or even make people ill or even drive them mad.

It is said that a continuous noise of over 85 decibels (分贝) can cause deafness. Now the governments in many countries have made laws to control noise and make it less than 85 decibels.

In China, the government is trying to solve not only air and water pollution problems but also noise pollution problems.

Japan says it will start releasing radioactive(放射性的) water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear center into the sea beginning in two years. The polluted water is to be treated before it is released into the Pacific Ocean. The government announced the plan Tuesday and said it had been approved by cabinet ministers. The decision had long been expected, but faced delays linked to safety concerns and public opposition.

Japan has said the water release is necessary to move forward with cleanup efforts at the Fukushima nuclear center. Three reactors(反应堆) there suffered meltdowns after the 2011 earthquake and huge ocean wave destroyed the plant5s cooling systems. The disaster forced 160,000 people to flee polluted areas around the plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, operates the nuclear center. It is carrying out the cleanup. TEPCO said Fukushima will run out of all its storage space for radioactive water by late 2022.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the government had decided the ocean release was the most realistic way to solve the water storage problem. Other methods considered included injecting the water into the ground or converting it to steam or hydrogen and then releasing it into the atmosphere.

The government describes the water to be released as “treated” and not “radioactive”. But experts say that 100 percent of radioactive materials cannot be removed. Government officials say tritium(氚) is the only substance that cannot be removed from the water. They say tritium is not considered harmful in small amounts.

The officials say all other radioactive materials in the water can be reduced to releasable levels. The exact amount of radioactive material that would remain in the water is not known. Some scientists say the long-term effects on ocean life from large amounts of such treated water also remains unknown. Fishermen and many people living in the area strongly oppose the plan. They have said releasing the water into the ocean could cause widespread damage to Fukushima5s fishing and agriculture industries.