{"id":46550,"date":"2023-06-17T07:36:51","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T07:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=119441"},"modified":"2023-06-17T08:32:33","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T08:32:33","slug":"what-are-we-doing-to-tackle-light-pollution","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/what-are-we-doing-to-tackle-light-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"What are we doing to tackle light pollution?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A look at what is \u2013 and isn\u2019t \u2013 being done to help ensure everyone can see the stars <\/p>

By Shaoni Bhattacharya\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 17 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

T<\/span>he stars have always been part of human culture. From motifs on Greek pottery to van Gogh\u2019s Starry Night<\/i><\/span> painting, the connection is evident across the globe.<\/p>\n

But today, there are few people who get to experience what our forebears saw every night in the sky, researcher Christopher Kyba tells me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you went outside at night you would have had the whole cosmos staring down at you \u2013 this really difficult to understand thing,\u201d says Kyba.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my experience with stars, it makes you quite reflective. It changes how you think \u2013 this confrontation with awe<\/i><\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Adelaide\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The glow from light pollution affects our view of the night sky. Credit: James O\u2019Neil \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The light pollution<\/a> from humanity\u2019s use of artificial lights at night is reducing the number of stars<\/a> we can see.<\/p>\n

Year on year it worsens, threatening our connection with the night sky, not to mention the implications for astronomy, wildlife, health, the climate and energy wastage.<\/p>\n

To the human eye, the night sky is brightening by about 10% a year, according to a recent study in <\/span>Science<\/i><\/span> by Kyba, a physicist at Ruhr University Bochum<\/a>, Germany, and his colleagues.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this rate, a child born in a location where 250 stars are visible at night would only be able to view 100 by the time they reach adulthood at 18. \u201cThat\u2019s a really fast and dramatic change,\u201d says Kyba.<\/span><\/p>\n

He and his colleagues attribute this decrease in star visibility to \u2018skyglow\u2019 \u2013 an artificial twilight caused by streetlights, LED signs<\/span> and residential lighting, scattering off molecules in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

While most of this light escapes into space, some of it bounces back down towards Earth.<\/p>\n

How darkness is measured<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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You can use Globe at Night\u2019s app to report your sky score in real time.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Their research draws on data collected by the ongoing Globe at Night project run by the US National Science Foundation\u2019s NOIRLab based in Tuscon, Arizona, which amassed over 51,000 observations made by citizen scientists around the world between 2011 and 2022.<\/p>\n

Volunteers compared their naked-eye view of the sky at night to a set of star maps, to find what was the faintest star visible.<\/p>\n

This helped gauge the skyglow, as the brighter the background becomes, the more that faint stars are rendered invisible to the unaided eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we found is that the charts that people are choosing are rapidly shifting towards the charts that have fewer stars,: says Kyba.<\/p>\n

In fact, the data showed the fall in the number of stars visible was equivalent to an average increase in sky brightness of 9.6% a year, averaged over their locations \u2013 a rate very much larger than the previously measured annual increase of 2.2%.<\/p>\n

This had been measured by satellites, which in principle can measure skyglow \u2013 but with limitations.<\/p>\n

\""Piccadilly\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
From From billboards to unshielded garden lighting, it all adds to the ever-present skyglow. Credit: Ofir Peretz \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Currently, Earth-monitoring satellites<\/a> can\u2019t detect wavelengths shorter than 500nm, and yet this type of light scatters more effectively in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Modern LED lights also peak in the blue end of the spectrum, between 400nm and 500nm, and our eyes\u2019 sensitivity shifts towards shorter wavelengths at night.<\/p>\n

The team speculates the move towards more energy-efficient LED outdoor lighting during the 2010s may have had an impact.<\/p>\n

The caveat here is that Kyba\u2019s team are interpreting sky brightness rather than measuring it directly, but it seems certain that people are reporting fewer stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

That should be a concern for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look outside at night and see the sky is really bright, it\u2019s a visual indicator of waste. If you\u2019re concerned about climate issues, if you\u2019re concerned about energy consumption\u2026 then this should concern you,\u201d says Kyba.<\/p>\n

He adds that the increased brightness means humans are shining more light into habitats like wetlands and waterways at night, most likely affecting wildlife.<\/p>\n

Light pollution is such an issue that the government in the UK, along with other nations, has begun looking at policies around lighting.<\/p>\n

Tackling the issue is complex, though, as many people \u2013 from individuals to shopkeepers and local authorities \u2013 make decisions about light use at night.<\/p>\n

However, there may be a role for formal restrictions on lighting, says Kyba.<\/p>\n

For example, the energy crisis caused some places in Germany to require that illuminated signs be turned off after 10pm.<\/p>\n

The legal argument against light pollution<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The APPG for Dark Skies is seeking to protect the UK\u2019s view of the night sky by legislating in Parliament. Photo by Steve Christo\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Within the UK, changes in national legislation to combat light pollution have been proposed by a committee known as the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dark Skies<\/a> (APPG).<\/p>\n

This group was set up in January 2020 to protect the UK\u2019s night sky by Lord Martin Rees of Ludlow, the Astronomer Royal and a former president of the Royal Society, and Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and South Downs \u2013 a constituency that includes the South Downs Dark Sky Reserve.<\/p>\n

After consultation with over 170 academics, astronomers, national park associations, legal professionals, members of local and national government and lighting professionals, the group published its Ten Dark Sky Policies for Government\nin December 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe APPG has a fairly broad remit,\u201d says Lord Rees. \u201cSimple energy-saving measures like tightening some of the planning laws about floodlighting stadiums and things of that kind can make them less of a nuisance and avoid brightening the sky unduly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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APPG for Dark Skies co-chairs Andrew Griffith MP (left) and Astronomer Royal Martin Rees (right).<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The committee\u2019s policy plan suggests 10 major changes which involve either bolstering existing planning and statutory nuisance laws, \u2018supercharging\u2019 standards for lighting, with legal clout and penalties for non-compliance, as well as encouraging best practice and incentivising dark-sky initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fundamental thing is that [light pollution] is recognised as a pollutant that needs to be controlled under regulation,\u201d says Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, as currently the UK does not have \u201chard-nosed legislation\u201d on light pollution.<\/p>\n

And the problem, he says, is huge.<\/p>\n

In the UK, a similar project \u2013 the annual star count run by the British countryside charity CPRE<\/a> \u2013 has shown a steady increase in light pollution over the last decade, barring a small dip during the pandemic when many councils, retailers and industrial facilities shut off their lights.<\/p>\n

Is the UK government taking action?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

In February, Massey gave evidence to the Greater London Authority on the potential light pollution from a giant, LED-studded entertainment dome planned at Stratford in London called the MSG Sphere (Las Vegas residents close to a sister venue have warned it will be like \u2018a Sun on Earth\u2019).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first time that he has been called for evidence in this way. \u201cThe fact that there were discussions on it is welcome,\u201d Massey says.<\/p>\n