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What is Light Pollution and Why Should I Care?
What is light pollution?
Light pollution is a growing worldwide problem which affects vast areas of the earth. In a nutshell, Light Pollution is misdirected or misused light... generally resulting from an inappropriate application of outdoor lighting products. Light Pollution comes in several flavors... each with its own negative effects. These are…
Sky Glow: light wastefully escaping into the night sky and causing a glow over urban/suburban areas.
Glare: light shining dangerously out into people’s eyes as they walk or drive by.
Light Trespass: unwanted light shining onto a neighbor’s property or into their home. Why should I care?
Light pollution impacts us all... in many ways. Some of these are quite obvious, others are much less obvious. For starters.... Light pollution wastes billions of dollars annually in the United States. Roughly 10 billion according to the International Dark Sky Association. Light pollution wastes incredible amounts of valuable natural resources. Hundreds of millions of barrels of oil... and hundreds of millions of tons of coal... just so people can light the bottoms of clouds? Burning all of these fossil fuels results in the release of large quantities of climate changing green house gases. Light pollution pollutes the air we breath through needless generation of electricity (most of which comes from fossil fuels). See the previous comment about burning oil & coal. Air pollution is a serious problem that affects large segments of the population. Light pollution harms nocturnal wildlife. Many species won't even go near an area that has bad lighting. Also, many species will simply stop reproducing if habitat destruction from overly bright lights becomes too severe. Light Pollution currently threatens all Florida Sea Turtles. Light pollution harms humans, being linked to some serious ailments, including breast cancer. This is for real! This can be thought of as second hand smoke in the 1980's. Researchers were just starting to look into the effects of second hand smoke back then. Many people laughed at the idea that one person could smoke... and another person could be harmed. Today, we know that this is in fact the case. Light pollution destroys the views of the heavens that man has enjoyed since the beginning of time. 99% of all American live under skies that are "negatively affected" by light pollution... while roughly 2/3 can not see the Milky Way from their homes. This is a shame. Mankind has throughout history looked to the stars to try to understand events around them. Additional Resources
International Dark Sky Association
Pennsylvania Outdoor Lighting Council
Flagstaff Dark Sky Coalition
The Glare Buster
Bright Lights Out
Citizens For Responsible Lighting
Global Light Pollution Picture
Our Vanishing Night
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Contributor's Note
Anthony Arrigo is an avid astronomer and night sky activist. His company, Starry Night Lights (www.StarryNightLights.com) specializes in night sky friendly outdoor lights that reduce the effects of light pollution in our communities.
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Light Pollution - A Global Problem
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The copyright for this content entitled "What is Light Pollution and Why Should I Care?" has been specified by the contributor as:
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This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
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This intel was contributed by Anthony
Anthony
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May, 2012
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