Sunday, June 2, 2013

Acoustic Ecology

      Sound is an aspect of life that I have ignored and taken for granted the majority of my time on this earth. I would walk through this world and focus solely on the stimulation received from eye balls. This was especially true when I would wander in nature. I would be so caught up in the beautiful images around me that I wouldn't even notice the intricate soundscape being created right in front of my ears. In the past few years I have gained an appreciation for foreign world of sound that surrounds me everyday. Now I take time to pause in the midst of busyness and other stimulation to listen and hear the sounds around me. Nature and its sounds have had a very big impact on my life, but after reading the Cummings article on Acoustic Ecology, I have realized that human produced sound also has had a big impact on nature, although in a much more negative sense. I had known about the effects of sonar on whales but I was not aware of anything beyond that. The fact of the matter is that as long as humans, animals and nature in general occupy the same spaces, they will have significant impacts on each other through the medium of sound. We, as humans, just need to become more conscious of where and how these impacts are effecting the earth.

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