Friday March 29th, 2024
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Cairo Ranked Second Worst in the World for 'Silent Killer'

Ranking up from 4th back in 2013, Cairo continues to be a deafening world leader as a not-so-silent metropolist.

Staff Writer

Cairo Ranked Second Worst in the World for 'Silent Killer'

In the latest of a long list of un-achievements for Egypt, the World Hearing Index has deemed Cairo as one of the noisiest cities in the world in its latest report, according to Egypt Independent. Considering Cairo’s cocktail of microbuses, Fiats that sound like they are dying every time they move and modified BMW's and motorbikes, it’s not much of a surprise – but how bad is it?

Well, having been ranked 4th noisiest city in 2013, Cairo is now apparently the second noisiest city in the world, beating the likes of New Delhi, Beijing, Hong Kong, Paris and London.

It’s a worrying climb in the rankings, with noise pollution being dubbed a silent killer by the European Commission in 2017, linking it to anxiety, stress, heart problems, and even depression. The World Health Organization has also flagged up concerns, describing noise pollution as an underrated threat. In a recent study, 85 Decibels was presented as the most noise we can handle for 8 hours at a time – to put that into perspective, the noise of your average car is around 70 decibels.

Even the metro is damaging our hearing. A test done on the London Tube by BBC reported that it was loud enough to damage people’s hearing, adding that in workplaces with similar levels of sounds, employees are required to wear protective gear. So just remember that next time you reach for the car horn in traffic.