Let all the number of the stars give light
To thy fair way!
(Antony and Cleopatra, Act III:Sec 2, line 1675, William Shakespeare)
The Problems of Light Pollution -- Overview
Light pollution: Any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste.
Light pollution:
- is a health hazard to people
- is a health hazard to animals
- is a waste of energy, resourses, and money
- is a security risk to your property
- and obscures our view of the wonderous night sky.
Light pollution is similar to the widespread long term damage a toxic chemical spill creates across the land. It is not a joke. And we ignore it at our own peril.
Identifying Light Pollution
Light pollution is light that is pointed outwards or upwards and not downwards. Hence it often found to be rude or oppressive to the non-owners of the light. How so? Well imagine spending an hour outside at night to enjoy the stars, when someone walks up to you and shines a flashlight in your face. The light hurts your eyes and temporarily blinds you. Such an action is cleary rude. Yet no one thinks that it is equally and permanantly rude that a person installs an outward pointing light on the side of a building to illuminate their grounds or parking lot or area around the building. Such people fail to consider just how far their security lights extend and bother other people. They seem to think that if you wanted it to be dark, then you should go somewhere else. Yet that person has, in all probability, chosen to locate themselves to be close to where people live and work. I can guarantee that people did not move to be near that person's light.
The following pages will present some arguements against light pollution. Please spend a moment going through them and learn how light pollution negatively affects you, in so many ways. As there is no staff, except for myself, these pages are being filled in slowly. I'll update the pages over time when I get new information, read more papers, or take more pictures. Please be patient with me and please be pro-active yourself.
If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than comtempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology.
We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it. -- Lyndon B. Johnson
Update: Legislative hearing against Light Pollution took place July 13th & 14th 2009.
Jump to the Take Action section of the Prevent Light Pollution page to learn more about what you can do to get your legislators to learn more about it! Now for the update:
On July 13th & 14th 2009, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) conducted informational briefings for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, respectively. Similar to briefings held last summer, these sessions were intended as a general introduction to the problems caused by light pollution and what can be done to reduce wasted outdoor lighting. This year discussion included the possible impacts of current legislation on light pollution, energy use, and conservation. The House briefing was sponsored by Reps. Gabrielle Giffords (AZ 8), Raul Grijalva (AZ 7) and John Culberson (TX 7). Alaska Senator Mark Begich was the sponsor and the keynote speaker of the Senate briefings.
Senator Begich implemented a major LED lighting installation when he was mayor of Anchorage, creating an estimated savings of 50 percent compared with other lighting systems. His presentation noted that 30 percent of the light coming from 35 million U.S. streetlights is wasted because it misses the target area – the street. This wasted light creates glare and sky-glow.
Additional speakers included Bob Parks, Managing Director of IDA’s new Washington Office, Terry McGowan, IDA Board Member and Director of IDA’s Technical Committee, and Chad Moore, Director of the National Parks Service Night Sky Program. In addition to delivering information on topics familiar to IDA members, they discussed the potential impact of developing energy efficient solid state lighting for outdoor lighting applications. Solid state lighting produces bluer light than most outdoor lighting currently in use. More research is needed to determine if the bluer, higher color temperature light will create more light pollution, and whether less of the new light is needed. IDA is pursuing funding for this research while continuing to educate Congress about the issue.