Omnipresence

By Jimena de Gortari

And when we woke up the noise was still there. Also as we move around the city, sometimes it sneaks in while we sleep, others when we are in a conversation, giving class, reading ... I think of all the activities of the thousands of people who circulate through this city during the day and how they are affected by this pollutant. I think there are few places that are spared from its presence. Every human activity generates a sound, but is it necessary for it to be of such intensity? Could we lower the level a little? How much do we notice its appearances in our lives?

Living in a city as noisy as Mexico City has made us accustomed to the constant presence of noise, that is to say, to different sound sources that combine with each other, a passing trailer, an accelerating motorcycle, the horn of some impatient person, the approaching airplane, the leaf blower, the bar that decided to take the party to the terrace with mariachi; the list is very long. Perhaps we go from habit to resignation because when we complain to the authorities, the response is not what we expected, or the wait is so long that we get tired, or the process is so tortuous - for which we also have to have time, which is scarce - that we give up. So we convince ourselves that we can live with it. We accept it as part of our life, as a consequence of living in "the city that never sleeps", without knowing that it affects our health, causing irreparable damage with cumulative effects. The demographic growth of cities has caused the population to be exposed to higher and higher levels every day and with higher intensities than those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Numerous associations and experts, as well as the WHO, have unanimously declared that noise has very harmful effects on health. These range from purely physiological disorders - such as progressive hearing loss - to psychological ones, since they cause such irritation and fatigue that they lead to dysfunctions in daily life, both in work performance and in relationships with other people.