This weeks On Being with Krista Tippett on NPR features acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton discussing endangered quiet places: onbeing.org/program/last-quiet-places/4557 The founder of The One Square Inch of Silence Foundation (onesquareinch.org/), Hempton records the few places remaining on Earth that are isolated from human-generated noise, including the One Square Inch Sanctuary in Olympic National Parks Hoh Rain Forest, the quietest place known in the continental United States. The quietest place on earth Hempton has found is the crater of the Haleakala volcano in Haleakala National Park. If a place can have a noise-free interval of only 15 minutes or longer during daylight hours, its added to the list that Ive collected for 30 years called The List of the Last Great Quiet Places. At last count, here in the United States, there were only 12. None of them are protected. Voyageurs National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area are apparently on Hemptons list. Isle Royale may be excluded because Hemptons minimum size for a buffer zone is 1,200 square miles (Isle Royales land and water total is 850), and the sounds of motor boats, generators, and especially airplanes can be heard for considerable distances.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 19:04:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015