When one looks upon the night sky within the 21st century, what do they see? Darkness, perhaps a faint glow? The overuse of artificial lighting has ended up creating a new form of pollution–that being light-pollution.
Perhaps on the surface it seems harmless: The stars and other cosmic objects are perhaps harder to see, but so what? It’s not like it is harming anyone. But, that’s where the problem arises. Various animals–including humanity–have used the moon and natural lighting for millennia for various purposes; yet, the growing number of non-natural lights—especially in urban areas—has begun disrupting this order, turning what was once no more than helping humanity deal with the dangers of darkness into an issue.
According to Darksky.org, light pollution itself is not one singular problem; it’s a collection of them that add up to make a much larger issue. According to the National Park Services article on Light Pollution—found on their website—glare is the most apparent to almost all, being bright, intense, and uncomfortable lights. Almost any type of artificial lighting can cause it, from the hundreds of street-lights that line most city streets to the various practical lights that dawn factories and industrial buildings.
Glare can then result in light trespass, or light spilling into areas it shouldn’t, which is likely why even fairly rural areas aren’t safe, as indoor lighting can spill out from uncovered windows or other small outdoor lights that line people’s yards.
These together result in Skyglow, a term used for the strange light haze that has been getting stronger within the day and night skies. Caused by overillumination, it is what blots out most stars and other cosmic phenomena from view in brightly lit areas, and admittedly the most visible effect on nature itself for the everyday person. Skyglow itself is unfortunately strong enough that even national parks hundreds of miles away from the nearest major city are affected.
Nature itself is affected by this ever-growing issue. EHS Science teacher Mr. Eric Jantzen stated, “It can disrupt migration patterns of animals–like birds and sea turtles–that can use stars to guide them. It can also make nocturnal hunters less successful, decreasing their food intake.” Jantzen’s points sum up the issues related perfectly, save for some. Information from Darksky.org helped expand on a number of issues brought up by Jantzen.
Birds have used moonlight and starlight to navigate at night, especially during migration periods. And, it isn’t just effects on the sky that is harming them. As with a host of animals, they are attracted to light, which unfortunately leads to millions of birds a year meeting their ends from over-illuminated towers and buildings.
Another example are baby sea turtles. Environmental activist Lorelei England, a Senior, sheds some of her own light on the topic. “Baby sea turtles can be attracted to the artificial lights created by cities and will follow those lights instead of following the moon to the ocean.” In so doing, it leads them to their deaths.
Predator and prey dynamics are also affected, with the simplest way of putting it being that predators use light to aid in hunting; prey, using darkness to aid in hiding. Obviously, the over-illumination of the world affects this realm.
Plants are affected less extremely but aren’t entirely safe, thanks to their relation with insects—specially pollinators. Most bugs are attracted to light, having a nigh-fatal attraction to it. This leads to them being easy food for predators, much in the same way of effects on prey species. Decline in insect populations means decline in pollen spread, roping plants into this issue.
Humanity, light pollution’s own makers aren’t entirely benefiting either. While the over abundance of artificial lights in the modern world helps with visibility, it is starting to cause problems for the everyday human person.
Blue light is the particular issue here, as it has a habit of affecting sleeping patterns and melatonin production. Glare from bright lighting can also cause issues with decreasing one’s vision over time, actually making it harder to see at night without light.
One incident from 1994, in which an earthquake knocked out power in Los Angeles, is a prime example of how light pollution affects humans’ perception at night. According to Ron Chepesiuk’s article the National Library of Medicines PMC archive. residents–for the first time–were able to see the Milky Way in the night sky, long hidden by the intense Skyglow, bringing up a smaller, yet still notable effect of light pollution. The disappearance of the stars and the cosmos to the average person, the beauty of the night sky is fading due to over-illumination, and in some areas, the moon is the only visible object during nighttime.
However, light pollution is still pollution. And, like all forms of pollution, there are solutions. Both England and Jantzen mentioned a simple, but effective, way of countering this: using “warmer, amber colors” in lighting. In bulbs, it will still be illuminated surely, but these more natural colors are less intense than the current bulbs.
Another fairly simple solution are sensory devices, along with timers, or even just switches that allow one to turn off large arrays of lights when said lights aren’t in use. This not only reduces light pollution by turning off artificial lights when they aren’t needed, but it also aids in conserving electricity.
England also noted this: “The use of shielded lights helps downturn the light and focus it towards the ground.” This is an idea that’s been proposed by various groups and entities, yet sadly hasn’t seen too much implementation yet. The most popular form of this idea is the “domed” streetlight, which pushes most light onto the ground, rather than letting it fade outwards into the night sky.
Light pollution is definitely lower on the list of ‘popularity’ when it comes to current environmental issues, especially when there are more harmful and immediate problems like global warming and ocean polluting, but it still is a valid issue that is growing by the year.
The world doesn’t have to be cast back into darkness to fix it, but perhaps fixing the current way in which lighting is applied and used–indoors and outdoors, urban and rural–is a step in ultimately reducing pollution overall in the world…and bringing a touch of wonder and beauty back to a mostly dark sky.
