Forum:Wind Turbine Syndrome (aka NOISE) is real

RE http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Wind_Turbine_Syndrome

I lost some respect for this website after reading the smug dismissal of "Wind Turbine Syndrome" and the implication that anyone who doesn't want the countryside ruined by "green" 300-500 foot skyscrapers is a NIMBY whiner.

A web search for wind turbine noise study brings up all sorts of evidence, and you can't wish away firsthand reports of affected residents as lies. Wind turbines generate infrasound and insidious repetitive patterns that don't just disturb via sheer decibel readings. Noise patterns also change by time of day and air inversion layers. Some people nearby get a lucky break with topography and others have noise focused on them like a lens. Some of the larger turbine blades sweep an area of 1.5 acres with blade tip speeds up to 200 MPH. How could any rational person think that would cause no disturbance? It has some characteristics of helicopter noise, with blade size making up for RPM. By design, air is crashing into the blades, causing friction which causes noise as spent energy. When the blades pass the tower a compression zone generates a pulse of sound.

Even without the noise, the visual intrusion creates psychological irritation from the turbines' looming presence, shadow flicker and red lights at night resembling airports more than countryside. People have a right to be annoyed by skyscrapers where none were ever expected to be, just as they are bothered by fracking operations that intrude on their farms. The mere lack of fossil fuel emissions from wind turbines (after they're built, that is) doesn't automatically put them beyond contempt.

Pseudo-environmentalists claim that opening millions of potential acres to skyscraper-laden industrial parks is "good for the environment." Who got to decide that for everyone else? When did the landscape itself stop being part of "the environment?" I see many facets of global warming denial in pro-wind (and solar mirror farm) arguments. They also wish away bird & bat kills as industrial sites invade shrinking open spaces. Lazy comparisons are made with existing sources of those deaths, as if nothing is cumulative.

http://enough_already.tripod.com/wind_turblight.html (my own page on this topic) &mdash; Unsigned, by: EnoughAlready / talk / contribs
 * I can't wish away firsthand reports of affected residents as lies, but I can certainly ignore them when trying to come to any kind of scientific conclusion. Your Google shows quite nicely that scientific studies have repeatedly failed to find any harmful medical effects due to the presence of the turbines, and I'm not sure what the idea is behind the psychological irritation. If I'm irritated by the presence of large buildings with lights, I'm probably going to have a hard time in any developed country.


 * Lastly, who decided wind parks were acceptable? Well, in a political sense, for most democratic nations, I imagine the electorate did. Increased reliance on wind and other renewable energy sources were certainly major platforms of the victorious political party in the last election in my area. You're welcome to complain to your elected representative about wind farms in your backyard, but I'm sure there are many folks who would rather see a wind farm in their backyard than a coal power plant. - Grant (talk) 07:32, 27 August 2014 (UTC)


 * And there's that old canard about bird kills. Rather than one random guy on the internet I'll take the advice of the RSPB

Thorough environmental assessment is vital to ensure that all ecological impacts are fully identified prior to consent of any development. If wind farms are located away from major migration routes and important feeding, breeding and roosting areas of those bird species known or suspected to be at risk, it is likely that they will have minimal impacts.
 * and

Switching to renewable energy now, rather than in ten or twenty years, is essential if we are to stabilise greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at safe levels. Wind power is the most advanced renewable technology, available at a large scale, over this time period. For this reason, the RSPB supports a significant growth in offshore and onshore wind power generation in the UK.
 * So, if the RSPB is in favour of wind farms then I'll take that over your objections. Doxys Midnight Runner (talk) 12:24, 27 August 2014 (UTC)