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Sky & Telescope Magazine
Astronomy Magazine
Oceanside Photo &
Telescope
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Light Pollution Questions and Answers
45
Signatures Collected as of
1/7/2009
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the letter or jump to
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1.
How does light pollution affect people? |
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In three main ways: |
Health & Quality of Life: Recent landmark studies by University of
Connecticut epidemiologist Dr. Richard Stevens have discovered that bright lights
at night can nearly double the risk of cancer by disrupting the hormonal and immune
systems of the body. These disruptions also cause insomnia, depression, and
other physical and mental diseases.
Safety, Security and Crime:
These are the problems nighttime outdoor lights are advertised to eliminate.
Unfortunately, many lights today like Acorn streetlights, unshielded forward-firing
Floodlights, Drop-Lens Roadlights and Dusk-to-Dawn Yardlights waste 30-60% of their
light, sending blinding glare into people's eyes and polluting the night sky.
Because this type of lighting doesn't enhance visibility, safety and security are
not increased but rather are in many cases decreased.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice Report to Congress on the effectiveness of lighting,
http://home.att.net/~icole/crime_ref_guide.html
"We can have very little confidence that improved lighting prevents crime, particularly
since we do not know if offenders use lighting to their advantage. In the
absence of better theories about when and where lighting can be effective, and rigorous
evaluations of plausible lighting interventions, we cannot make any scientific assertions
regarding the effectiveness of lighting. In short, the effectiveness of lighting
is unknown."
In closing, after decades
of aggressive lighting programs, the results speak for themselves! Crime rates
in America are higher today than in any previous time in recorded history.
Security is diligently sought for but never achieved. Personal safety is at
an all-time low.
All this with an annual pricetag
of more than $20,000,000,000 worldwide!
Uncontrolled Outdoor Lighting,
like crime, never pays!
Astronomy:
Personal:
This is the part of light pollution that you are probably most familiar with.
After all, a dome of skyglow over cities and the resulting lack of stars have become
far too familiar of a sight for most Americans.
In spite of the record low
prices and wide selection of powerful Astronomical telescopes, starting at $150
from dealers like
www.telescope.com, light pollution is fast blocking
our view of the night sky and ending personal Astronomy as we know it.
We need to take action today
to save the Universe! We can change the world, one light at a time!
See http://www.darksky.org/
Professional: The pace of Astronomical
discoveries today is truly remarkable, especially with space telescopes like the
Hubble,
Chandra,
WMAP,
and Mars Rover
missions!
But the workhorses of Astronomy,
Ground-Based Observatories, which direct the space telescopes towards targets of
interest, are under fire from light pollution. Although lighting regulations
have been enacted to protect several observatories, we need to guarantee that every
observatory is protected!
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2. How does light
pollution affect animals? |
Although light pollution
affects all animals negatively, some species are killed by the millions worldwide,
like birds and sea turtles.
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3.
How does the affect of light pollution differ in the city rather than rural and
suburban areas? |
Light Pollution becomes much
more intense, to the point where only the brightest stars can be seen and the night
sky glows brightly. Nearby light pollution sources can also blind the observer,
resulting in a sky that appears black but is completely devoid of stars. This
destruction of dark-adaptation can be even worse than skyglow itself.
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4.
In what way can light pollution be prevented? |
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With the combination
of two technologies; Smart Lighting & Full Impact Lighting:
Full-Impact Lighting: Lighting that
aims all of its light toward the ground where its needed, not into the night sky
where its wasted. None of the bulb should be visible at night when you're
standing at the same level as the fixture. Most of these fixture can be identified
by their flat, horizontal lenses. Examples: Flat-Lens Roadway Lighting,
Flat-Lens Parking
Lot Lighting,
and the residential
Glarebuster.
Smart Lighting: Using high-tech
motion sensors and timers to provide true safety, security and savings. Motion
sensor lighting works like a security system, turning on only when an intruder is
in the yard, scaring them away and alerting you by a sudden blast of light.
Both timers and motion-sensors save lots of energy and save you lots of money on
your power bill!
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5.
What population of the world is affected by light pollution? |
NASA studies indicate that
67% of the world's population live under light polluted skies; including 99 percent
of people in the continental United States and Western Europe:
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6.
How dark does the sky get with light pollution affecting it? |
This varies from quite dark
with many stars visible in areas like Arizona, where light pollution is controlled
to perpetual twilight in heavily light polluted areas like big cities.
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7.
Light is also expensive, is there an inexpensive available solar light? |
Although alternative energy
sources are the technology of the future, the only way they can supply worldwide
power needs is to decrease energy use by increasing the efficiency of our appliances.
Energy use by outdoor lighting
can be cut in half by directing all light onto the ground. Smart lighting
technologies like timers and motion-sensors could further reduce energy use to 1/10th
of the present level.
This is what we need to do
to bring back the stars!
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8.
Is there more than one type of light pollution? |
Actually, there
are 3 types of light pollution:
Sky Pollution: The dome of light that
forms over cities when air molecules in the atmosphere backscatter light towards
the observer.
Glare Pollution: Blinding glare
from unshielded outdoor lighting that destroys the eye's ability to see faint lights
like stars and deep sky objects.
Light Trespass:
Lighting that
illuminates other people's yards, properties, and sleeping areas. This causes
such problems as increased crime, lower property values, inability to conduct public
Astronomy viewing of rare and spectacular events, and interference with a good night's
sleep, the latter having the potential to double the individual's risk of cancer (see question #1).
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Additional Resources:
http://www.darksky.org/
Jonathan Casselman
Chairman, International Dark-Sky
Association Youth Working Group
Astronomical League Youth
Observing Awards Coordinator
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the letter or jump to
sign the petition.
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