Great article thank you. A body of research that includes 500+ studies suggests that - in academic circles at least - the problem is recognised, so maybe the problem is that it hasn't been communicated to the general public well enough. Plastic is a pervasive and (often) visible source of pollution; as you point out the problem with noise is it's gone soon after it's created. The pollution itself becomes an ephemeral thing.

All in all, it's another great argument for the need for us to live more locally. Less shipping of food and goods across bodies of water can only help.