Light Pollution VS. Dark Skies
As the years go by, the sky becomes brighter and brighter and it now gives off a glow which makes it almost impossible to see the stars, planets and other treasure of the night. This is the effect of light pollution, which is now considered to be as dangerous as the many other forms of pollution. Light pollution keeps expanding as cities grow and urbanization increases, it has become difficult even in rural areas to see the stars because of the growing effect of light pollution.
The International Dark-Sky Association has made it its mission to reduce light pollution around the world. Such cities as Quebec in Canada have made efforts to reduce the amount of aimless light that shines up into the sky. Thus they have been highly commended by the International Dark-Sky Association. The International Dark-Sky Association measures the amount of light pollution emitted by cities all over the world. Quebec is at a level 3 (relatively low), while the city of New York is ranked at a 9 (relatively high).
The International Dark-Sky Association has pushed for legislation which would regulate the amount of light pollution and wasted energy, in order to conserve energy and stop aimless and wasteful light, shining into the night sky. Such places as parking lots, malls and even homes, have lights shining directly up into the sky, even though no one is benefiting from the light. Thus, the International Dark-Sky Association and Starry Night Lights seek to reduce the amount of light pollution being emitted into the sky and hope to stop useless light shining into the night sky. Starry Night Lights offers individuals energy efficient and night friendly lighting. Starry Night Lights lights are designed not to shine up into the sky (ex. wall scones), and light only the areas that need to be lit (ex. area lighting). This way one can enjoy the night and keep their light from aimlessly shining into neighbors homes and into the dark night.
This entry was posted on Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Astronomy, Do It Yourself, LED Light Bulbs, Light Pollution, Outdoor Lighting, Post Mounted Lighting, Sky Glow, Starry Night Lights, environment, neighbor friendly lighting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
4 Responses to “Light Pollution VS. Dark Skies”
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August 8th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Though I despise the lights at night outside my window from the private pool nearby, lighted parking lots and empty spaces can potentially mitigate some amount of crime or make it easier to notice and thus less likely to occur.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Proper outdoor lighting is not about living in the dark… it never has been.
This is the dark sky movement… not the dark ground movement.
Light that shines up into the night sky is completely wasted. Light that shines off one property and onto another is trespassing.
Employing quality full cutoff outdoor lighting puts light on the ground where its needed… and prevents it from shining where its not needed and typically doesn’t belong.
Dark skies are not against properly lighting parking lots at night (during business hours)
A mall should not be completely lit up after hours… as is often the case.
A parking lot that is lit brightly as if open for business at say… 2:00am is a complete and utter waste of resources.
Even proper full cutoff/down light fixtures should be turned off when not needed.
Anthony
January 31st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
You know what, I have to completely agree with this anti light stuff. I really want to see the night sky from my front porch, but pretty much everyone in our neighborhood always have their stupid outdoor lights on. I live in Salt Lake City, and am planning this summer to go to the Uinta Mountains, not mainly for Hiking, but also for Star Gazing. This light pollution has become intolerable. In the early 90’s, the Wasatch front had way less lights. I remember looking up at the stars, and now you have to go all the way down to Stansbury Park to see a decent amount of stars, still it’s very hard to make out the milky way. We need to make this message reach out to people before its too late, before areas like Southern Utah, such as Moab, start loosing their night sky too. The city of Quebec took a big leap in reducing light pollution, why can’t the rest of The world do so too. I am fully against the sick orange glow, and I want people in my neighborhood to realize the same thing.
-Dastarnut
January 31st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I hear you…. I’m up in Park City, and the skies here have degraded significantly in the last 10 years, as well. The milky way can still be seen when its directly overhead, but is not visible when not as well situated. As for the Uintas, they’re still a great place to go to observe in the warmer months..