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An Enlightened Look at an Over-Lighted World
Saige writes "Every night, as darkness descends, countless street lamps and lights turn on to keep the darkness at bay, bathing countless square feet of the planet in light that sometimes rivals daytime. But has anyone stopped to consider what effect all this light may have on people and animals that have evolved to fit an environment where a significant part of the 24 hour day is spent in lightless conditions? Some scientists have, and they are claiming that all this light is causing numerous problems."
I live in England and a popular BBC science TV programme, "Tomorrow's World" was doing reports on this phenomenon as far back as 1998/1999. If I recall correctly, they even asked viewers to do an informal study whereby they looked at the night sky through a toilet roll tube and counted the number of visible stars, then to send in that number and geographical location in so that they could figure out where light pollution was worst. As far as I can tell, the south of the country was a lot more afflicted than the north, with major cities (particularly London) often having no stars visible at all at some times.
Bash script for FP whores
The International Dark Sky Association is an organization that has been looking at these issues for some time, if you want to get involved. They have some interesting information and data about night-time lighting and its relationship to crime, as well as other things.
Sure. Some links below, found on google. I'd show you my textbook, if I could :)
c tion.html
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c tures/extinction/extinction.html
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http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Science/extin
http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BIO48/38.Extincti
http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/courses/EEB105/le
http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Tom/bil160sp98/1
Simon
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston reviewed the health histories of 78,562 nurses and found a lower but still significant correlation: Those with one to 29 years on the night shift showed, on average, an 8 percent increase in breast cancer; those with 30 or more years showed a 36 percent increase.
Just about every study shows 3rd shift workers suffering from more adverse health problems than those who are productive in the daytime. I think this has more to do with sunlight and being in a more natural cycle. I personally think depression caused by working overnight has far more to do with these health problems. The typical health of most night-time workers I've known (over 35) have been in rough shape from mostly preventable conditions like smoking, drinking, etc.
Elizabeth Alvarez, the International Dark-Sky Association's associate director, counters with photos of bright streetlights casting deep shadows where bad guys could lurk. "Glare does not help visibility!" she says. "Too much light is blinding."
This is very true. When I grew up out in the country, I could walk outside and see several hundred feet on any night with even a slight moon. Once I moved to the city, this was not the case. So many bright lights everywhere, that where one is not appears pitch black. No way in hell could you ever manage to sneak up on me out in the woods, but in a city, it'd be about as hard as standing past where the street lamp's light is cast.
The thing that bothers me about all this extra lighting at night is the wasting of resources. I'd rather get a cut on my state and local taxes and do without the massive lighting infrastructure on my local freeways. My car has headlights that illuminate everything I need to see to drive safely and the only cost is energy my motor would have wasted anyway.
On a more reasonable note, what we really need is a few more technical hurdles overcome and move to LED lighting. The safety factor of lower operating tempuratures and saved energy would be immensely beneficial.
I haven't seen this mentioned yet. I would urge everyone concerned with this issue to become members of the International Dark Sky Association. They have wonderful information on the issue and are very active in trying to get light pollution laws enforced.
Streetlights provide that load, and make us safer.
People who think they know everything really piss off those of us that actually do.
Last month I drove from my old home (Orlando, FL) to my new one (Spokane, WA). I was amazed at the difference in the night sky between the two places.
The last night of my drive, I stopped at Lookout Pass to camp for the night. Since it is summer, and the ski facilities are closed, there were only three cars besides myself up there.
Lookout Pass is 4725 ft. up in the mountains, right on the border between Montana and Idaho (Exit 0 on I -90).
Not a small town for miles, and not a city of mention for 50+ miles in any direction. Almost zero light pollution.
I've never been able to see so many stars before. The Milky Way stood out and was easily visible. I was able to watch sattelites pass overhead. You can understand how the ancient Greeks saw the constellations -- it really helps when you can see the fainter stars.
It is all out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Most people don't know what they are missing with all the light pollution.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
....especially in the winter. Downtown lights up low hanging clouds and gives us a nice well lit evening. It's really nice when walking at home at 10pm in the evenin. Then again, though, on winter days the sun sets before 5pm.
Frankly, I'd like a lot less city light. I came from a small rural area and live in a big city. The light (and noise) at night still throws off my sleeping even after 9 years here. I very much miss the quiet darkness at night, especially laying out and actually seeing the stars.