The night sky is increasing in brightness by a staggering amount. What measures do we need to take to get back our view of the stars?
Instant Genius is a bite-sized masterclass in podcast form. And in this episode, we’re discussing light pollution.
A recent study carried out by the Globe at Night project – a citizen science program involving more than 50,000 observations from volunteers around the world – has found that the brightness of the night sky has increased by an average of 7 to 10 per cent a year for the last decade. This trend is making it increasingly difficult to observe the stars, especially from built-up urban areas.
We speak to Dr Greg Brown, an astronomer and science communicator based at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. He tells us how bad the current situation really is, what it means for laypeople, astronomers and animals, and what measures we can take to get our view of the stars back.
Find Instant Genius on your preferred podcast platform here: instantgenius.podlink.to/Podcast
Listen to more episodes of Instant Genius:
- How to enhance your focus with sound, with Dr Nick Perham
- The electrome, with Sally Adee
- Big Garden Birdwatch, with Adrian Thomas
- Emotions, with Dr Dean Burnett
- Biodiversity, with Dr Andrew Terry
- How to change your habits, with Dr Gabija Toleikyte