Why are impulsive noises more dangerous for hearing than other noises?

The ear and the brain are much too to slow to catch the right level of the noise. The duration of a sound signal must be at least 0,3 sec to be perceived at the right level. When the duration is shorter, the level sounds lower in our ears. Since the level does not look very high, we believe it could not be harmful for hearing and we do not protect our ears. Our warning system for impulsive noise is very bad. Our ears are not designed for those kind of noises.

Another factor making impulsive noise more dangerous than other sound is the very rapid rise time. You can compare it with swinging a sword with very high speed towards something. The effect is much greater than swinging it slowly with the same energy. The fast rise time in impulsive noises will snap the inner ear hair cells and might even hurt the membranes.