World faces ‘deathly silence’ of nature as wildlife disappears, warn experts

A school of fish swim above corals on Moore Reef in Gunggandji Sea Country off the coast of Queensland in eastern Australia

Sounds of the natural world are rapidly falling silent and will become “acoustic fossils” without urgent action to halt environmental destruction, international experts have warned.

As technology develops, sound has become an increasingly important way of measuring the health and biodiversity of ecosystems: our forests, soils, and oceans all produce their own acoustic signatures. Scientists who use eco-acoustics to measure habitats and species say that quiet is falling across thousands of habitats, as the planet witnesses extraordinary losses in the density and variety of species.