Emma Cooke Approximately 150 words
INTD 105 Science Writing
“Whisper of the Wild”
Kim Tingley discusses the research of Davyd Betchkal, a sound catcher focused in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Betchkal is studying natural soundscapes of areas like Denali, and how human sound pollution is effecting the species within the park and the soundscape itself. Tingley focuses on the adverse effects of plane, cars and other human noise on the inhabitants of these habitats. For example, “the droning of the freeway traffic and the 24/7 rumbling of natural-gas-pipeline compressors directly harm the ability of birds nesting nearby to reproduce” (Tingley, 9).
I connect Tingley’s experience in Denali to my own experiences in the Adirondack National Park. When you’re standing on top of a mountain or canoeing out in the middle of a lake, you don’t hear the sound of cars and there aren’t many people. It is peaceful and that is one of the reasons why it is so beautiful. However, moments later you might hear the roar of a plane over head or of a boat on the water and it breaks the silence. Noises that effect humans and their perception of the land must certainly have an even greater effect on the species that live there, which forces us to wonder why we don’t do more to protect natural soundscapes.