Seattle Now: An escape to one square inch of silence

Looking for some peace and quiet away from city life? From our friends at KUOW's The Wild, we’ll meet a Washingtonian who’s made it his life’s mission to preserve the sounds of nature.

Noise pollution. It is all around us...constantly.

Our cities seem to never give us a moment of peace. And that’s not good for our health. Aside from keeping you up at night, continual noise sets off the body’s stress response, which raises blood pressure and heart rate. One study ranked noise pollution the second biggest threat to public health, the first being air pollution.

So where can you find a moment of peace and quiet? Gordon Hempton has found the answer for you. Gordon calls himself The Sound Tracker. He is an audio engineer obsessed with recording the sounds of nature with no human interference.

Our friends over at The Wild podcast, told Gordons story and his effort to preserve one square inch of silence in Washington’s rainforest.