Light Pollution in Simple Terms
Why is it that city dwellers look up into the night sky and have a hard time seeing the stars? The answer is actually very simple- light pollution. Light pollution can be described as the brightening of the night sky, caused by large amounts of artificial outdoor lighting. In the case of light pollution, artificial light is frequently directed aimlessly into the night sky. Light pollution also includes light intrusion, which is the process by which light enters our homes from sources like a bright street light or such.
The sources of light pollution:
Light pollution comes from various sources, all of which involve poor lighting fixtures or unnecessary lighting. These sources include: street lamps and lighting, advertising and display lighting, commercial lighting, lighting for sports events and so forth. In any case, many forms of these various of lighting fixtures are typically bad because they allow light to shine upwards, rather than downwards.
How does light pollution affect us?
Light pollution has many effects on both mankind and wildlife, these effects include:
- unnecessary waste in money and energy
- death of migrating birds, who frequently collide with lighted buildings
- negative effects on bird’s behavior
- disrupt the habitats of plants which are dependent on light in their natural cycles
- death of insects who are drawn to the light
What can we do to lessen light pollution?
- choose outdoor lighting fixtures that shine downwards
- refrain from excessively lighting an area
- use motion sensors, so that lighting is only used when its needed
- buy energy efficient outdoor lighting products
- only light what needs to be lit
Join with Starry Night Lights and fight against light pollution. Buy Starry Night Lights products and be guaranteed night-friendly outdoor lighting.
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 7th, 2008 at 9:25 pm and is filed under Commercial Lighting, Do It Yourself, Light Pollution, Outdoor Lighting, Sky Glow, Starry Night Lights, environment, global warming, green building, landscape 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.
One Response to “Light Pollution in Simple Terms”
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June 10th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
This is a great post. Love the work you are doing to fight light pollution.