According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), one in five people living in the European Union are exposed to noise pollution and long-term noise levels that are considered harmful to their health. From sleep disturbances to cardiovascular issues, noise has also been shown to even have impacts on children’s ability to learn. These negative impacts affecting roughly 100 million residents are due to traffic noise. This translates to one million healthy years lost per year to illness, disability or early death due to road, rail and air transport-related noise.
Given that the European Environment Bureau lists noise pollution as one of the most significant threats to public health, after air pollution, there are numerous action plans in place. The reduction of noise is currently a key objective under the EU’s Zero Pollution Plan for 2050, which aims to reduce the share of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030. And the Environmental Noise Directive is the main EU law focused on identifying and addressing noise pollution.
MORE INFO: EIT Urban Mobility
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