2 min read
A little more than 100 yrs ago you could walk outside at night even in cities and see the Milkyway galaxy across the night sky. Now, millions of children across the globe will never experience the Milky Way where they live.
Addition of light itself also known as photo-pollution, unwanted or presence of light in the night environment.
The luminous orange glows that haloes cities and suburbs – threatens wildlife by disrupting biological rhythms and otherwise interfering with the behavior of nocturnal animals. artificial lights overpower the darkness and our cities glow at night, disrupting the natural day-night pattern and shifting the delicate balance of our environment.
light pollution competes with starlight in the night sky for urban residents, interferes with astronomical observation and disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects.
Health effects of over-illumination or improper special composition of light may include, increased headache, worker fatigue, medically defined stress, decrease n sexual function, and increase in anxiety.
Light pollution also endangers sea turtles. Due to more light around beaches directs them in other direction, after hatching out of egg baby turtles need to go to sea but they will get distracted and moves away.
For those animals who need to be awake at night, Nocturnal Animals light pollution has effects on their alertness and mood.
A study in South Korea found that regions with highest levels of artificial light at night(ALAN) reported the highest no of cases of breast cancer.
International Dark Sky Association:
It is an organization mainly helping more of us to have the better night. IDA chapters organize events such as dark sky festivals, conferences, and star parties while working to educate their communities and government officials about the importance of protecting night skies, eco-friendly outdoor lighting, and much more.
Richards Stevens:“Light photons must hit the retina for biological effects to occur.’However, in an environment where there is much artificial light at night such as Manhattan or Las Vegas there are much more opportunities for exposure of the retina to photons that might disrupt circadian rhythm”
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution
http://darksky.org/light-pollution/