In L.A., the noise and heat pose insidious health threat

Pioneering study seeks to learn how a combination of the two affects residents' brains and well-being

- BY TYRONE BEASON

ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times. AT A community garden, Blanca Lucio finds respite from L.A.'s jarring soundscape and shadeless streets.

Blanca Lucio likes to spend her mornings tending to her zucchinis, cucumbers, watermelons and traditional Mexican herbs at a small community garden near downtown Los Angeles.

With its cool, damp air, the garden brims with what Lucio calls "magic."

The only sound comes from the green June bugs buzzing by her ears and children playing at the community center across the street.

"Outside of here, you're exposed to a lot of noise and a lot of pollution," Lucio said while giving a tour of the garden, a short distance from her home in South L.A. "This space renews me and the other gardeners who grow plants here. I feel more content when I'm here."

Noise pollution and excessive heat can seem inescapable in Los Angeles. What would the city be without random bursts of fireworks and car sound systems thumping loud enough to shake you from your dreams? And the nearly 365-days-a-year sunshine is practically what defines L.A., even though it means commuters often must wait under the blazing sun at bus stops that lack cover.

But just because we've grown used to L.A.'s jarring soundscape, shadeless streets and pockets of intense heat, it doesn't mean they are harmless.

Noise and heat together can pose a special kind of health threat, one that the city's most vulnerable people are least able to protect against, said Valerie Tornini, a neurobiologist at UCLA.

With climate change ushering in stronger and longer heat waves, a growing body of evidence suggests that excessive heat has become a public health crisis. An estimated 1,300 people die of extreme heat each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and that number will only grow in coming years.