A low-cost, high-impact solution for climate change — who doesn’t want that?

Yet, we’re not seeing it — or rather, we’re not hearing it.

We’ve ignored the power of sound in the most critical battle of our lifetimes. How many studies need to shout at us before we tune in?

Sadly, we’re still sleepwalking with noise-canceling headphones on.

It’s time to wake up, Samurai. We have a planet to heal.

Let these groundbreaking studies show how something as simple as playing the right frequencies can restore nature’s health.

Audio therapy for corals

Coral reefs are dying all around the world. It’s one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time. But not all is lost. We can regain them with sound.

Researchers from MIT wanted to see if playing sounds typical of a healthy coral reef could boost the settlement rates of coral larvae on degraded reefs.

Think of it as real estate development for corals. Baby corals have to find spots to anchor and grow into vibrant reefs. Without them settling down, our reefs can’t bounce back and keep doing their job of protecting coastlines and supporting marine life.

So what if we could expose coral larvae to a healthier soundscape and trick them into settling and growing in places they’d otherwise avoid?

Think of it as a marketing stunt with audio persuasion — for a great cause.

Researchers used a soundscape that included the clicks, pops, and hums from fish, snapping shrimp, and other marine life. These sounds would signal to coral larvae that the hood is thriving, so why not settle down and grow there?

The team used a custom solar-powered acoustic playback system to pump healthy reef sounds into a degraded reef within the Virgin Islands National Park near St. John. They compared the settlement rates of these larvae at this sound-enriched site against those at a naturally healthy reef and another degraded reef without the sound boost.

What did they find?

• Embellishing the neighborhood pays off: putting healthy reef sounds into a degraded reef made coral larvae settle like it was the best real estate offer in town. It was 1.7 times higher on average and up to 7x in some cases, compared to those reefs without the sound boost.

Even 30 meters away from the speaker, the larvae were still settling more than at silent sites.

• The sweet sound spot: larval settlement rates were highest within 5 meters of the speaker. The farther away from the sound source the fewer the settlements, but it still had an effect 30 meters away.

• Big boost in a short time: the larvae settlement was noticeable within the first 24 hours and remained significant over 72 hours. Even a short intervention is helpful!

• It’s a safe measure: there was no significant increase in larval mortality due to sound enrichment.

The big takeaway? The right sound can boost coral recovery and resilience against climate change. Sound interventions are promising, and scalable, and we can accelerate the recovery of these crucial ecosystems.

The illusion of a healthier environment will eventually make it healthier.

Fake it till you make it.

Sound waves for healthier soil

But sound doesn’t just help our friends below in the ocean, it also helps creatures on the surface.

What if blasting sound at soil could boost the growth of fungi that help plants grow and break down organic matter?

That’s what researchers from Flinders University in Australia wanted to learn. If sound could be a secret weapon in making the soil healthier and more productive, it would be a game changer for restoring ecosystems worldwide.

The team set up experiments with different sound levels (70 dB and 90 dB) and played them to teabags filled with compost and a type of fungus called Trichoderma harzianum. The sounds were monotonous 8 kHz tones downloaded from YouTube. They ran these sound sessions inside sound attenuation chambers with Bluetooth speakers for 8 hours a day over two weeks, comparing the results to control groups that just got the usual ambient noise.

After two weeks they found something astonishing. The sound-treated soil had much more fungal biomass and better decomposition rates. The treated teabags gained between 90% to 150% more weight meaning a 2.5x increase in beneficial fungi due to sound.

The teabags were more densely packed, boosting both fungal growth and organic matter decomposition.

We can use sound to supercharge soil health!

This way we help in the fight against climate change by enhancing the natural processes that store carbon and support biodiversity.

It’s not just a lab trick, it’s a real-world application.

Turning simple sound into a mighty tool

We can trick baby corals into setting up shop and rebuilding reefs faster than ever and make soil fungi work harder and faster, just with sound.

Let that sink in.

We’re massively underestimating the power of sound as a tool in the climate change battle. Sound is everywhere and cheap to use. Is that the reason we undervalue it? Sound offers a low-cost, scalable solution we’re not using enough.

We spend billions on high-tech solutions, ignoring something as simple and accessible as sound. We have to use every tool at our disposal, especially the ones that are right under our noses and cost next to nothing.

If we care to listen, we might heal our planet faster than we ever thought. It’s time we restored our planet to its original beauty.

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