scholarly journals Curbing the Pollution of the Night: The Problem of Light Pollution

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. p80
Author(s):  
Sharlene A. McEvoy
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Water Contamination ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Night Sky

One of the least discussed aspects of environmental law is light pollution. Air and water contamination are issues that have been addressed by laws at the federal and state levels but far less attention has been given to the issues of illumination which can have deleterious effects not only on human health but also on the ability to view the night sky. Some states have passed “Dark Skies” laws to remedy these problems.

scholarly journals The Effects of Anthropogenic Sound and Artificial Light Exposure on Microbiomes: Ecological and Public Health Implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake M Robinson ◽  
Ross Cameron ◽  
Brenda Parker
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Microbial Interactions ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Artificial Light ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Health Implications

Globally, anthropogenic sound and artificial light pollution have increased to alarming levels. Evidence suggests that these can disrupt critical processes that impact ecosystems and human health. However, limited focus has been given to the potential effects of sound and artificial light pollution on microbiomes. Microbial communities are the foundations of our ecosystems. They are essential for human health and provide myriad ecosystem services. Therefore, disruption to microbiomes by anthropogenic sound and artificial light could have important ecological and human health implications. In this mini-review, we provide a critical appraisal of available scientific literature on the effects of anthropogenic sound and light exposure on microorganisms and discuss the potential ecological and human health implications. Our mini-review shows that a limited number of studies have been carried out to investigate the effects of anthropogenic sound and light pollution on microbiomes. However, based on these studies, it is evident that anthropogenic sound and light pollution have the potential to significantly influence ecosystems and human health via microbial interactions. Many of the studies suffered from modest sample sizes, suboptimal experiments designs, and some of the bioinformatics approaches used are now outdated. These factors should be improved in future studies. This is an emerging and severely underexplored area of research that could have important implications for global ecosystems and public health. Finally, we also propose the photo-sonic restoration hypothesis: does restoring natural levels of light and sound help to restore microbiomes and ecosystem stability?

scholarly journals Perceptions, Practices and Principles: Increasing Awareness of ‘Night Sky’ in Urban Landscapes

SURG Journal ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-62
Author(s):  
Robin Mosseri
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Artificial Lighting ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
Natural Cycles

In urban centres the natural cycles of day and night have dramatically been altered by artificial lighting, creating a perpetually lit environment that is rarely considered an issue. Artificial lights are illuminating roadways, structures and public plazas with lighting schemes that are, in most cases, inefficient. Consequently, light pollution has greatly impacted the night by reflecting and refracting light into the atmosphere. Without appropriate consideration of integrating artificial lighting into the urban environment, our “night sky” experience is at risk due to poor approaches to public realm design. This study qualitatively explores light pollution analyzing it based on the environment, society and economy as a whole. A literature review, key informants, and case studies contribute to a greater understanding of light and create a framework to develop a design reference to light efficient urban development. This study examines the need for a shift in public perception, broadening an understanding of the effects of light pollution, and provides design considerations to aid urban night sky awareness, planning and design.

scholarly journals Light pollution in the night sky of Toruń in the summer season

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominika Karpińska ◽  
Mieczysław Kunz
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Summer Season ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Family Housing ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
The City

Abstract The paper presents results of research on light pollution in the night sky of Toruń. A permanent network of measuring stations has been established in the city, consisting of 24 sites representing various types of land development and land cover: single-family housing, city centre, multi-family housing, areas overgrown with vegetation and open areas. Within this network, a repeatable direct measurement of the sky brightness using an SQM photometer was carried out over a period of three consecutive months in the summer season, i.e. from June to September 2017. The measurement sessions were conducted in similar weather and astronomical conditions. Based on the obtained data, a spatial distribution of light pollution was determined, ranges of values obtained during the measurements were provided, and the results were additionally referred to the distinguished land cover categories and land development types.

scholarly journals Light pollution around Tonantzintla Observatory

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S260) ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. Vázquez-Mata ◽  
Héctor M. Hernández-Toledo ◽  
Luis A. Martínez-Vázquez ◽  
Atanacio Pani-Cielo
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Monitoring ◽  
Astronomical Observatory ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
The North ◽  
Large Growth ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
Sky Conditions

AbstractBeing close to the cities of Puebla to east and Cholula to the north, both having potential for large growth, the National Astronomical Observatory in Tonantzintla (OAN-Tonantzintla) faces the danger of deteriorating its sky conditions even more. In order to maintain competitiveness for education and scientific programs, it is important to preserve the sky brightness conditions. through: 1) our awareness of the night sky characteristics in continuous monitoring campaigns, doing more measurements over the next years to monitor changes and 2) encouraging local authorities about the need to regulate public lighting at the same time, showing them the benefits of such initiatives when well planed and correctly implemented.

scholarly journals Emission spectra of light-pollution sources determined from the light-scattering spectrometry of the night sky

2019 ◽  
Vol 491 (4) ◽  
pp. 5586-5594
Author(s):  
Miroslav Kocifaj ◽  
František Kundracik ◽  
Ondrej Bilý
Keyword(s):  
Light Scattering ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Spectral Composition ◽  
Emission Spectra ◽  
Pollution Sources ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Ambient Atmosphere ◽  
Artificial Light ◽  
Measuring Device ◽  
Night Sky

ABSTRACT The emission spectrum of a light-pollution source is a determining factor for modelling artificial light at night. The spectral composition of skyglow is normally derived from the initial spectra of all artificial light sources contributing to the diffuse illumination of an observation point. However, light scattering in the ambient atmosphere imposes a wavelength-specific distortion on the optical signals captured by the measuring device. The nature of the emission, the spectra and the light-scattering phenomena not only control the spectral properties of the ground-reaching radiation, but also provide a unique tool for remote diagnosis and even identification of the emission spectra of the light-polluting sources. This is because the information contained in the night-sky brightness is preferably measured in directions towards a glowing dome of light over the artificial source of light. We have developed a new method for obtaining the emission spectra using remote terrestrial sensing of the bright patches of sky associated with a source. Field experiments conducted in Vienna and Bratislava have been used to validate the theoretical model and the retrieval method. These experiments demonstrate that the numerical inversion is successful even if the signal-to-noise ratio is small. The method for decoding the emission spectra by the light-scattering spectrometry of a night sky is a unique approach that enables for (i) a systematic characterization of the light-pollution sources over a specific territory, and (ii) a significant improvement in the numerical prediction of skyglow changes that we can expect at observatories.

scholarly journals Evidence That Reduced Air and Road Traffic Decreased Artificial Night-Time Skyglow during COVID-19 Lockdown in Berlin, Germany

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3412
Author(s):  
Andreas Jechow ◽  
Franz Hölker
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Color Temperature ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Artificial Light ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Night Sky Brightness

Artificial skyglow, the brightening of the night sky by artificial light at night that is scattered back to Earth within the atmosphere, is detrimental to astronomical observations and has an impact on ecosystems as a form of light pollution. In this work, we investigated the impact of the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the urban skyglow of Berlin, Germany. We compared night sky brightness and correlated color temperature (CCT) measurements obtained with all-sky cameras during the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 with data from March 2017. Under normal conditions, we expected an increase in night sky brightness (or skyglow, respectively) and CCT because of the transition to LED. This is supported by a measured CCT shift to slightly higher values and a time series analysis of night-time light satellite data showing an increase in artificial light emission in Berlin. However, contrary to this observation, we measured a decrease in artificial skyglow at zenith by 20% at the city center and by more than 50% at 58 km distance from the center during the lockdown. We assume that the main cause for the reduction of artificial skyglow originates from improved air quality due to less air and road traffic, which is supported by statistical data and satellite image analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported impact of COVID-19 on artificial skyglow and we conclude that air pollution should shift more into the focus of light pollution research.

scholarly journals Landscape Potential and Light Pollution as Key Factors for Astrotourism Development: A Case Study of a Slovak Upland Region

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 374
Author(s):  
Radoslava Kanianska ◽  
Jana Škvareninová ◽  
Stanislav Kaniansky
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Multicriteria Analysis ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Land Utilization ◽  
Recreation Area ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
Study Sites

Astrotourism is considered to be a modern form of ecotourism. The main resource for astrotourism is a high-quality night sky, but this is very sensitive to natural as well as anthropogenic factors; for example, land utilization and expansion of urban areas often cause the negative effect of light pollution. The aim of the study is to perform a lighting survey by night sky brightness (NSB) measurements using the sky quality meter (SQM-L) at 20 study sites of the Slovenské stredohorie Upland region (Slovakia) and to assess the region’s potential for astrotourism development (PAD) using a multicriteria analysis. The NSB values ranged from 19.90 (city Žiar nad Hronom at Žiarska kotlina Basin) to 21.54 mag/arcsec2 (recreation area Poľana at Poľana Mountains). At 14 out of 20 study sites, the NSB values even reached 21.2 mag/arcsec2, as recommended by the International Dark-Sky Association for dark-sky parks. Four study sites were categorized as sites with medium PAD, and sixteen with low PAD. No study site reached a high or very high PAD. The best conditions for astrotourism development are fulfilled mainly by the Poľana Mountains geographical unit. The findings can be used for sustainable astrotourism development, land management, and planning to ensure socioeconomic development, together with nature and dark-sky conservation.

scholarly journals The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. e1600377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Falchi ◽  
Pierantonio Cinzano ◽  
Dan Duriscoe ◽  
Christopher C. M. Kyba ◽  
Christopher D. Elvidge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use Planning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
The World ◽  
Visible Effect ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
States Experience ◽  
Land Surfaces

Artificial lights raise night sky luminance, creating the most visible effect of light pollution—artificial skyglow. Despite the increasing interest among scientists in fields such as ecology, astronomy, health care, and land-use planning, light pollution lacks a current quantification of its magnitude on a global scale. To overcome this, we present the world atlas of artificial sky luminance, computed with our light pollution propagation software using new high-resolution satellite data and new precision sky brightness measurements. This atlas shows that more than 80% of the world and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans. Moreover, 23% of the world’s land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, 88% of Europe, and almost half of the United States experience light-polluted nights.

scholarly journals GLOBE at Night in China

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 733-733
Author(s):  
Hongfeng Guo
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
International Activity ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
Save Energy

AbstractThe GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaign was introduced in China in 2010. Observations and works made by students are presented. The students were guided to participate in this meaningful international activity by 1) taking light pollution observations of the night sky at different locations, 2) becoming aware of the severity of the effects of light pollution, and 3) making the whole society aware of the importance to save energy by reducing light pollution.

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