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energy requirements beyond any we
have ever seen in the past...."
The U. S. Department of Mines pro–
jects the following increases of key fuels
and minerals for the period 1965 to
2000. Thc percentages are whopping:
1)
Coa( consumption will increase
more than 250 pcrcent in the U. S. and
more than 575 percent worldwidc.
2) I ron consumption will increase
nearly 175 percent in the U. S. and at
more than twice that rate worldwide.
3) Lead consumption will increase
over 200 percent in the
U.
S. and more
than 250 percent worldwide.
4)
Zinc consumption will increase
nearly 375 perccnt bolh in thc U. S. and
woddwide.
5) Copper consumption will increase
more than 200 percent in the U. S. and
nearly 375 percent worldwidc.
"These are cnormous demands,"
admits Childs. "It is very difficult to
foresee how thcy will be met."
And it is even more diflicult to fore–
see how they could be met without
irreparably stressing the earth's ecologi–
cal
balance.
The earth's rcsources are not infinite.
Methods must be found to recfajm and
reuse many of these minerals presently
being heedlessly discarded.
Today, nearly all industrial nations
are net importcrs of most of the metals
and ores on whicb their cconomy de–
pends. The U. S., long the world's rnost
voracious consumcr of rninerals, al–
though comprising only 6% of the
earth's lancl arca and population, dc–
pends increasingly on foreign sourccs.
Said a University of California
biogeologist: "One does nol havc to be
an economic geologist or a mineral
economist (and 1 am neither) to see
that, short of plundering the rest of the
world, the availabihty of mineral re–
sources of itself will place real limits
either on population growth
oc
on
affiuencc in the U. S. by early in the 21st
Century, and sooner if we are not alert
and skillful in dealing with irnminent
shortages."
Noise: The Deafening
Crescendo
Sixty years ago, Nobel laureatc Rob–
ert Koch predicted, "A day will come
when man will havc to fight mercilcss
The
PLAIN TRUTH
noise as the worst enemy of health."
That tragic day may not be far off.
It is virtually impossible, especially in
rughly advanced technological societies,
to get completely away from the racket
of civilization: horn blasts, squealing
tires, screeching brakes, rumbling trucks,
jet planes, transistor radios, factory
noise, the throaty growl of motorcycles,
jackhammers, riveting guns, racing
cars.. ..
Even at night, cities and suburbs are
plagued with an undefinable low moan
- often punctuated with the ear-pierc–
ing shriek of a siren.
As with one voice, scientists are
rec–
ognizing noise as more than just an an–
noyance. T hey see it as a lcthal partner
to air, water, solid waste and other
forms of pollution. Dr. Vern O. Knud–
sen, chancellor emeritus of the Univer–
sity of California, asserts: "Noise, like
smog, is a slow agent of death.
If
it
continues for the next 30 years as it has
for the past 30, it could become lethal."
Jn fact, the overall loudness of envi–
ronmental noise has increased about
three decibels each decade in the United
States, since the 1930's. That represents
a doubling of intensity each decade!
(Each decibel rise represents a 26% in–
crease in ooise intensity; ten decibels
means a ten-fold inccease in power). In
sorne American communities, thc noise
level in 1968 was 15 decibels above the
1938 leve!- a 32-fold increase.
T he U. S. Public Health Service
re–
ports more than 7 million persons are
working where noise levels are high
enough to damage hearing.
The Federal Council for Scicncc and
Technology says that hearing loss
caused by noise amounts to "a major
health hazard in American inuustry."
The cost of compensation for lost pro–
duction because of nojsc and hcaring
damage is estimated to
be
well over
$4 billion per year!
H ard-of-H earing at Age 30 ...
Youths, too, are affected by noise pol–
lution to an alarming degrce. Thc cul–
prit? Highly amplified rock 'n' roll
ffiliSIC.
A University of Tennessec research
team studying the relationship bc.:twcen
such music and hearing damage reports
"measurable high freguency hearing
February,
1970
loss" in more than 30 percent of a large
group of freshmen. In a separate study,
guinea pigs exposed to "hard rock" ( av–
eraging 130 decibels) suffered the shriv–
elling up of a high percentage of cells
in the sensitive inner ear.
Dr. David Lipscomb of Tenncssee's
Department of Audiology and Speech
Pathology concluded that the nation
shouJd initiate at once a program
of "hearing conservation for young
people."
According to James M. flugrath of
thc Memphis State University Speech
and Hearing Clinic, "it is CjUÍte possible
that due to modern amplilied rock 'n'
roll mus ic, we are rrusing
a
nation of
tecn-agers who will be hard-of-hearing
bcfore they rcach what thcy consider old
agc (30) ."
Rx
of Noise Pollution
Rcactions to noise pollution could
be
listed almost endlessly, but ear specialist
Dr. Samuel Rosen gives a succinct sum–
mary. When one hears a loud noise.
said Dr. Rosen, "the blood vessels con–
strict, the skin paJes, the pupils dilate,
the eycs dose, one winces, holds thc
breath, and the voluntary and involun–
tary musdes tense. Gastric secretion
diminishes and the [blood] pressure
increases. Adrenalin is suddenly injected
into the bloodstream which increases
tcnsion, nervousness, irritability, and
anxiety."
None of these reactions are neccs–
sarily serious happening once in a whilc.
But when multiplied a hundrcd times
per day or a million per lifetime, mul–
tiplc chronic illnesses are knocking at
the door. Noise effccts, furthermore,
are cumulative! "You may forgi"e
noise," Rosen quipped, "But your nr–
teri<:s nc\'er will."
Dr. Rosen is not alone in his warn–
ings about noise and health.
Psychologist Dr. Edward
C.
Hews
states that "prolonged subjection to an
unpleasant noise ... can lead to
Jaere
mentt~!
di.rorienlctlion
and
in
some cases
violencc."
A recent British study near London's
Heathrow airport gives further proof of
noise-induced neurosis. A team of doc–
tors and statisticians under
T.
Abey–
Wickrama of Guy's Hospital, London,
found that women over 45 living alone