Light Pollution

Jerry Gerber:
We astrophotographers, astronomers and dark-sky lovers know what light pollution does to our view of the universe.   But it also has serious ramifications beyond the night sky.  Light pollution affects insects, birds and other animals, it messes with their mating, gestation, hunting and migration habits, confusing them because they've evolved many of their activities around sunlight, moonlight and darkness.

Humans also are being affected.  Our circadian rhythms are affected by light pollution which in turn affects our sleep, hormones and digestion. 

We as night sky enthusiasts, whatever level of scientific knowledge we do or do not possess, must become better advocates of helping people to understand that light has a "dark side", it's another component of civilization that is changing the balance for life on our world.

http://www.darkskynm.org/and https://www.darkskyland.us/and https://darksky.org/

Jerry Gerber:
We astrophotographers, astronomers and dark-sky lovers know what light pollution does to our view of the universe.   But it also has serious ramifications beyond the night sky.  Light pollution affects insects, birds and other animals, it messes with their mating, gestation, hunting and migration habits, confusing them because they've evolved many of their activities around sunlight, moonlight and darkness.

Humans also are being affected.  Our circadian rhythms are affected by light pollution which in turn affects our sleep, hormones and digestion. 

We as night sky enthusiasts, whatever level of scientific knowledge we do or do not possess, must become better advocates of helping people to understand that light has a "dark side", it's another component of civilization that is changing the balance for life on our world.

http://www.darkskynm.org/and https://www.darkskyland.us/and https://darksky.org/

Hi Daniel,

That's right where my telescope is hosted, along highway 60 near Pie Town New Mexico at Howling Coyote Remote Observatories..

Well said, Jerry. 

For me, the wonderful Astrobin community here inspired much so much in my "busman's retirement" hobby, that I was motivated to single-handedly write the successful application to Dark Sky International (DSI) to have my region (Kawarau-Gibbston, in South Island NZ) recognized as an international Dark Sky Park in May 2024.  If you are interested, you can check out the DSI page.  

In short, the Kawaru-Gibbston Dark Sky Park would not exist without Astrobin.   I believe that is what is called impact.  

Perhaps it has motivated others to do the same. I would love to hear their stories too.

Brian Boyle:
Well said, Jerry. 

For me, the wonderful Astrobin community here inspired much so much in my "busman's retirement" hobby, that I was motivated to single-handedly write the successful application to Dark Sky International (DSI) to have my region (Kawarau-Gibbston, in South Island NZ) recognized as an international Dark Sky Park in May 2024.  If you are interested, you can check out the DSI page.  

In short, the Kawaru-Gibbston Dark Sky Park would not exist without Astrobin.   I believe that is what is called impact.  

Perhaps it has motivated others to do the same. I would love to hear their stories too.

That's great to hear Brian.  Light pollution is growing about 10% a year globally and local, regional, state and national governments need a kick in the ass to start passing legislation to deal with it.   As is often the case, tech solutions are not so much the issue as is political will.

Jerry Gerber:

It's just plain wasteful, unneccessary and poorly planned. I bet that 70 percent plus of all external lighting could be eliminated with no detrimental effects.

Yes, it is.  I gave a talk and played a few of my astrophotographic music videos to the local astronomy club in Santa Cruz, California a few weeks ago and one of the members is going into the public schools urging them to put motion detectors on all their outdoor night lighting.   Once people understand the loss and harm that light pollution causes, they often want to do the right thing and make an effort to mitigate the problem when they can.   

What's interesting is that light pollution, compared with fossil fuel pollution in our atmosphere and chemical pollution in our food, water and soil, is actually much easier to remedy:

1.  Motion detectors on all outdoor lighting.  This can actually reduce crime because if, say, a person in their home is used to an outside light always being on at night, they might not notice if a stranger with bad intentions is lurking around unless they hear them.  But with a motion detector, if it suddenly turns the outdoor light on, the person indoors now has a clear message that something is moving outside.

2.  Shielded light fixtures so that light is not spilling out around areas where it's not needed.

3.  Lights aimed downward, only lighting the area that is required.  

4.  Turning as many lights off as possible in huge office buildings in downtown areas where a large amount of energy is being wasted if the buildings are empty and the janitorial staff has completed their work.

5.  Only use the wattage necessary to get the amount of light needed.

I'm sure others can come with up with other ideas about how to mitigate light pollution.

I completely agree, there is a big degree of laziness with people, companies and authorities, although my local authority is by no means the worst.

I live in a bottle 5 area, and it’s a shame that the residents have very little idea the beauty of the night sky. I have neighbours that are incapable of switching lights off overnight and have inappropriately bright security lights, two in particular have them angled straight out from their houses, I’m surprised those that live opposite don’t complain about it, I would if it affected my bedroom. One of these is so bright it illuminates the road to the side up to 100m.

Thankfully my local council has set the lights up to auto-dim around 21:00, brightening when motion is sensed. At 01:00 they are switched off until 04:00, although this was initially a cost saving measure, the council has acknowledged the pose change it has had on the local wildlife. I appreciate that turning the lights off is not possible in all areas, such as crime hotspots for example, but it is a shame that more councils are not doing this, even if it just to save money. It would also be beneficial for councils to educate people about allowing their eyes to adjust, this may help combat the complaints they receive. Occasionally I am very late home and the lights are off, I only need touch light if it is overcast. When I tell people or co-workers that when I was in Ivalo, Finland there was no Moon or clouds, they are shocked to hear that I could read the dials on my camera (admittedly if I concentrated a bit) from just the starlight.

Personally I think it’s all about education, something that should be added to school curriculums for both biology for the effects on rhythms and physics.