5. Noise

What is it?

  • Noise is unwanted sound

The environmental and social definitions of noise take account of the effect of the sound rather than its technical nature.

The results of national surveys of typical exposure to noise show that

  • >50% of the population are exposed to day-time noise levels that exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO) ratings for significant community annoyance. 
  • Other surveys report that around 50% of people find their home in some way unsatisfactory because of noise.