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Planes, trains, and autobahns make Europe a very noisy place - especially if you're in a metropolitan area, or anywhere near a right-of-way. In response to an EU mandate that cities with more than 250,000 inhabitants produce "noise maps" by 2007, the consulting firm Accon plotted the cacophony in Stuttgart, Germany. This map of the airport and its environs depicts decibel levels from various sources (aircraft, cars, sporting events), plus the impact of acoustical barriers. Dark gray shows regions as loud as, say, a mixer blending pastry for strudel; pink and purple call out places with noise the level of a vacuum cleaner picking up the crumbs; red signals sound comparable to folks talking about dessert. Only blue and green spots would be considered quiet residential areas. Travel advisory: Pack your earplugs.
- Jesse Freund
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