Friday, March 29, 2024

Risky side of wind turbines

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BEFORE WE GET INTO setting up wind turbines in close proximity to any school, we must first know what we are exposing our children to.

Therefore I will produce a little information about wind turbines that parents and the public should know.

Wind turbines the size of 275  kWh produce a low frequency and audible noise while in motion, and this noise has a pounding, thumping character and can be clearly heard at night.

This pulsing character of high level noise has been proven to disturb sleep, thus coining the name “nightmare noises”, and is responsible for a number of health problems.

Many residents who have wind turbines less than one-and-a-half miles from their homes are adversely affected by the noise of these turbines.

They are within the decibel levels to disturb sleep.

People who live next to wind turbines describe the nightmare noises as bothersome and a sleep disturbance causing decreased performance, increase blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias and change in breathing patterns.

Wind turbines also create moving visual disturbances, especially early and late in the day when long shadows from the moving blades sweep rhythmically through the neighbourhood.

People with seizure disorders can be affected by the strobes effect of seeing the sun through the moving blades.

We all know that noise has an adverse effect and the most strongly affected areas are memory, attention, reading and problem solving, just to name a few.

People who are able to tune out this wind turbine noise suffer from an increased level of stress, and these adverse affects are larger in children with lower school achievement.

To be easily understood, noise levels should be 35 db or less and these turbines produce a higher noise level (greater than that of your vacuum cleaner or washing machine), especially at night.

This article is in no way against the erecting of wind turbines, however, I am strongly against the erecting of such turbines close to any school compound or any populated areas.

Wind turbines should be erected more than one and a half to two miles (to be safe) in circumference from any populated area.

It is your job as parents to ensure that your children are protected from all forms of danger while on their way to, during and after school; not only for your children but for their children as well.

NANYA AGUL-EL-SOBERS

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