LIGHT POLLUTION

Light Pollution, also known as Skyglow, may not appear to be the most urgent problem facing the planet, but it may be the most indicative of humanity's growing separation from nature. Light pollution impacts health of humans and animals, especially nocturnal wildlife, and disrupts ecosystems. It also leads to waste of large percentages of energy and the disruption of astronomical research, among a long list of impacts. Light pollution runs counter to necessity for a green, sustainable future.

However, this problem is one an average citizen can do something about, as Verlyn Klinkenborg states in his article on Light Pollution: "Of all the pollution we face, light pollution is perhaps the most easily remedied. Simple changes in lighting design and installation yield immediate changes in the amount of light spilled into the atmosphere and, often, immediate energy savings."

IMPACT ON ANIMALS & PLANT LIFE

Fireflies, which used to cover most of lower North America during the months of May through July, are one of the animal species devastated by light pollution. Relying on complete darkness to perform their mating rituals, fireflies have retreated into the last remaining dark areas of their habitat, decreasing their overall population by as much as 90 percent, according to some estimates.

Birds that migrate or hunt at night navigate by moonlight and starlight. Artificial light can cause them to wander off course, migrate too early or too late, and miss Ideal climate conditions for nesting, foraging, and other behaviors. Every year, millions of birds die colliding with needlessly illuminated structures.

IMPACT ON HUMANS

Artificial light emanating from house lights, electronics, and other sources suppresses melatonin, an antioxidant that induces sleep, boosts the immune system, lowers cholesterol, and helps the functioning of the thyroid, pancreas, adrenal glands, and various other parts of the body. The full impact of nocturnal light on the health of human beings is not yet known as many studies are still to be conducted. Research to date suggests that artificial light’s disruption of circadian rhythm is one of the causes of obesity, depression, insomnia, diabetes, and breast cancer.

Even fish, such as salmon, are susceptible to having their mating processes disturbed by artificial light pollution. Sea turtles often mistake city lights for moonlight shimmering in the ocean.

Trees have been shown to bloom too early due to artificial light. Later-budding trees such as ash trees are most affected by light pollution, which in turn impacts all the animal life that depends on those trees’ natural bloom cycle.

And these luminaries radiate their light over much of the electromagnetic spectrum and scatter much farther through the atmosphere, even when shielded. 

Cities need to install filters that can remove the LEDs’ blue wavelengths, as well as shields that better aim the lights down. Those fixes are costly. But there are some potential positives to LEDs that aren’t yet widely utilized.

The latest bulbs are tunable, which means streetlights might someday make use of warmer, more natural amber colors. Indoor lights and electronic displays can change their hues throughout the day, keeping you more attentive when you need to be, but dialing back the blue as the sun sets.

L.E.D. REVOLUTION

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) compound the light pollution problem. Most city-dwellers are familiar with the traditional yellow hues of low- and high-pressure sodium-vapor streetlamps, which shine in a narrow range. But broad-spectrum LEDs are the future. The brighter and more efficient streetlights can save cities millions of dollars on their power bills, so municipalities big and small are starting to convert.

The most common bulbs are blue with a special coating that makes them appear white to human eyes. This also causes these LEDs to peak in the short wavelengths astronomers commonly use to observe the night sky. 

The first presence of natural light pollution on Earth proved to be essential to its creation. Endless volcanic activity--a mixture of lava, ash, and gas that escapes from a magma chamber deep below the surface--has been shaping the planet from the very beginning. This phenomenon continues in Hawai’i, Earth’s most volcanically active spot, where new land is created on a daily basis.

For billions of years, lightning was the brightest light in the night sky. Each flash lasted only a millisecond, providing brief but blinding illuminations, as seen here at the Grand Canyon, where thunderbolts often strike near the edges of the rim in spectacular fashion.

Two other rare, but nonetheless present forms of natural light pollution, were meteors burning in the earth’s atmosphere, as well as Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).

The night skies prior to artificial light pollution were so pristine, during the darkest nights, in the new moon portion of the lunar cycle, when there was minimal or non-existent reflection of sunlight into the night sky atmosphere, the Milky Way would get so bright it would cast shadows and illuminate the landscape.

For humans, unlike other animal life, night became a fertile source of both fascination and dread of the unknown. Night sky, the source of endless unsolved mysteries, became the inspiration for some of the oldest known stories and myths.

The gold and silver mines of California were the last stops on the long journey west. The Gold Rush created the permanent entrenchment of white settlers
in the American West, and new technologies that made it easier to travel to and live in those harsh, mountainous climates began to arise.

Electricity, followed by electric light, arrived in California in the late-1880s, along with steam engine train technologies, and soon thereafter the growth of the oil industry and automobiles.

Just a few hundred years after Native American archaeoastronomy sites covered the land, Manifest Destiny had led to the near-destruction of many Native American cultures. All that remains now are Americana throwbacks
to ancient European archaeoastronomy sites such as Carhenge in Nebraska.

 In 1958, the small mountain town of Flagstaff, Arizona, became the first municipality in history to enact a light pollution control ordinance. Flagstaff is home to the Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered, the early Martian surface research was conducted, and the first evidence of Dark Matter was registered. Flagstaff’s Northern Arizona University Astronomic Research Observatory was first to conduct an infrared observation of the sky from Earth’s surface.

Flagstaff’s light control ordinance prohibited “the use of commercial searchlights within the city limits.” Punishments for violating the ordinance included “imprisonment in the city jail not to exceed 90 days.”

Protection of the night sky continued for decades as Flagstaff grew in population. Coconino County, where Flagstaff is located, enacted a lighting code in 1973, covering the second-largest county in the United States. In 1981, the county took it a step further, banning all billboards and the accompanying lighting.

Finally, in recognition of its pioneering role in protecting the night sky, Flagstaff was designated the World’s First International Dark-Sky Community by the International Dark-Sky Association in 2001.

Since then, over a dozen other cities enacted a light pollution ordinance, including Sedona, Arizona and Borrego Springs, California. 

Today, the National Park Service protects some of the most pristine dark sky areas in the country. The National Park Service Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division measures light pollution in parks around the country and develops strategies to curb the impacts of skyglow.

However, despite National Park efforts to preserve nature for the enjoyment of the people, the use of artificial light both within and outside the boundaries of the National Parks threatens the quality of night skies.

Joshua Tree is one of such parks affected by the light from neighboring Los Angeles and Palm Springs, while being stuck between Los Angeles area and Las Vegas keeps the even the remotest parts of the Mojave National Preserve from maintaining clear night skies.

Meanwhile, much of New Mexico’s White Sands National Monument suffers from light pollution coming from nearby cities Alamogordo and Las Cruces.

In Yellowstone National Park, as in other sanctuaries, the prevalence of light around building structures makes it impossible to achieve perfect dark skies in all areas of the park. 

Even in the more detached parks, such as Death Valley, car lights add to artificial light intruding on the quality of darkness, while a combination of cars and light pollution from surrounding towns significantly impacts night sky quality over every single stretch of the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway. 

1. Purchase materials from our STORE page, including books, blu-ray, calendars, and more! Funds go to the creation of more visual and written light pollution awareness content. 

2. Donate / sponsor SKYGLOW by visiting our DONATION page and making a contribution. Funds go to the creation of more visual and written light pollution awareness content. 

3. Organize a SKYGLOW EVENT in your area. We have educational presentations of various lengths which combine TED-style talks with dynamic still & timelapse video content. 

4. Visit the INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION website and learn more about impacts of light pollution and what you can do about it. 

5. Use dark-sky friendly light fixtures, and shield your indoor and outdoor lights. For more info, please visit IDA's OUTDOOR LIGHTING BASICS page. 

6. Plan a trip to your closest PRISTINE DARK-SKY AREA, and take some friends with you to camp there. There is no substitute for seeing the unpolluted night skies with your own eyes.