And that doesn't even include the progressive rock my neighbors listen to every single morning.

這還不包括我的鄰居每個早晨都在聽的前衛搖滾。

All this noise is really annoying, but it's also killing my ears.

這些噪音真的很惱人，也同時傷害我的聽力。

Hearing loss is the fourth highest cause of disability across the world, and it's expected to get much worse.

聽力受損造成的殘疾在全球排名第四，而且預估情況會變得更嚴重。

In the US alone, one in four adults show signs of noise-induced hearing loss.

單單在美國，就有四分之一的成年人出現了噪音導致的聽力受損現象。

One of the main reasons behind that is all the noise that's around us every single day.

這背後的主要原因之一，就是我們每一天所接觸到的噪音。

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the best way to protect your hearing is to limit noise levels to 70 decibels.

根據環境保護局的說法，保護聽力的最佳方法就是將噪音限制在 70 分貝以下。

And experts agree that continued exposure to noise above 85 dBA will eventually harm your hearing.

專家們同意，持續暴露於 85 分貝以上的噪音最終會損害你的聽力。

If you're curious about the noise levels around you, decibel readers like this one tell you exactly how much noise you're being exposed to.

如果你想知道你周遭的噪音值，像這樣的分貝計會告訴你你身處的環境噪音值是多少。

This one's actually fine.

這其實很好。

I ride the subway for hours everyday and it's really, really loud.

我每天都坐地鐵好幾個小時，真的，真的很吵。

But putting in my headphones doesn't really help.

即使戴上耳機也沒有什麼用。

Smartphones cranked (all the way) up are about 100 decibels.

手機開到最大聲約為 100 分貝。

This bar is 105 decibels and according to the World Health Organization that could damage your hearing in less than an hour.

這個酒吧是 105 分貝，根據世界衛生組織的說法，可能不到一個小時你的聽力就受損了。

This chart shows that the louder the noise, the less exposure it takes to potentially damage your hearing.

該圖表顯示噪音越大，可能導致你聽力損傷的時間就愈短。

For example, a boiler room is about 95 decibels, so if you hung out in one for 4 hours you would not only be a f***ing psycho, but you would expose yourself to hearing damage as well.

例如，一個鍋爐房內大約是 95 分貝，所以如果你在裡面待了 4 個小時，你不僅會變成一個精神病，同時還會讓自己的聽力受到損害。

One of the worst things about hearing loss is that ear damage is irreversible.

聽力受損最糟糕的事情之一，就是它是不可逆轉的。

Most of us are born with something like 16,000 little hair cells in our ears, and these hair cells act as sound detectors.

大多數人出生時耳朵裡就有約 16,000 個小毛細胞，這些毛細胞就等於是聲音探測器。

So when sound waves pass into our ears, they send a signal up to our brain, and then our brain decodes the sound.

所以當聲波傳入我們的耳朵時，它們會將信號傳送到我們的大腦，然後我們的大腦將聲音解碼。

But the brain's interpretation is only as good as the signal it receives from the ear.

但是，大腦只能解讀從耳朵接收到的信號。

And when the hair cells in the ear have been damaged, the brain can't detect the sound or the sound is distorted.

所以當耳朵的毛細胞受損時，大腦就無法偵測到聲音，或聲音會失真。

You can think about the hair cells like grass, when you're walking through a field and you walk over blades of grass, they bounce back after a few minutes.

你可以把毛細胞想像成小草，當你穿過一片草地，你踩踏過小草的葉片，它們會在幾分鐘後就復原。

But when you walk through that field enough times you eventually create a path and the same thing happens with the hair cells in your ears.

但是當你穿過那片草地次數夠多的時候，最終你就會創造出一條小徑，同樣的事情也會發生在你耳朵裡的毛細胞。

When loud sounds pass into the ears and at high enough intensity they bend those hair cells, and they can bounce back during a recovery period.

當很大的聲音傳入耳朵並且有一定的強度時，它們會造成那些毛細胞彎曲，但毛細胞在一段恢復期間後，它們可以復原。

But with enough noise over enough time those hair cells get permanently damaged or destroyed.

但是如果噪音夠大，聽的時間夠久，這些毛細胞就會永久受損或完全毀壞。

When it comes to help from the government, I've got some good news and some bad news.

談到政府提供的幫助時，我有一些好消息，也有和一些壞消息。

The good news is that in the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon passed the Noise Control Act, which recognized Americans' right to a quiet environment.

好消息是，1970 年代初期尼克森總統通過了《噪聲管制法案》，該法案認可美國人民享有安靜環境的權利。

The bad news is that in 1981 President Ronald Reagan came along and essentially shut down the effort and left local governments to fend for themselves.

壞消息是，1981 年雷根總統出面並終止這法案。

The problem with that is that local governments relied on federal funding to tackle noise problems.

並讓地方政府自己想辦法解決。

So, yeah, you might be on your own on this one, but there are ways you can prevent noise induced hearing loss.

問題在於地方政府是依靠聯邦資金來解決噪音問題，所以，你可能沒辦法仰賴政府的管制。

You can wear noise canceling headphones or foam earplugs in loud environments like the subway or on airplanes.

但你還是有方法可以防止噪音引起的聽力損失，你可以在地鐵或飛機等吵雜環境中佩戴降噪耳機或泡棉耳塞。

You can limit the amount of time you're exposed to loud sounds and move further away from the source of the noise.

您可以限縮暴露於噪音的時間，並遠離噪音源。

You can go into the settings and set a maximum volume on your phone to prevent playing your music too loud.

您可以設定手機的最大音量，以防止播放音樂太大聲。

So, yeah the problem is bad, but you don't have to take it lying down.

所以，問題雖然困難，但你還是有辦法克服的。

One of my favorite discoveries had been this app called SoundPrint, which allows users to submit their decibel readings in bars, restaurants, and cafes.

這款名為 SoundPrint 的應用程式，是我最喜歡的 app 之一，它可以讓用戶在酒吧，餐廳和咖啡館裡測出噪音分貝數。

And I've been using it to avoid really loud places.

我一直都用它來遠離非常吵雜的地方。