Producing light that is not needed is simply a waste of energy and therefore money. But in addition, it causes ecological problems and negatively affects human health.
Older readers will surely remember the star-studded summer evenings, with the Milky Way covering their nighttime adventures. However, the expansion and misuse of electricity have made it more difficult every day to find a place where you can enjoy a dark and starry sky.
We are talking about a modern problem: light pollution, the most general definition of which is “the change of the natural light level outside due to artificial light sources”, although it currently includes other aspects, as we will discuss. But let’s start by knowing how it affects us.
What problems does light pollution cause? On the one hand, it involves unnecessary energy consumption. Producing light that is not needed is simply a waste of energy and therefore money.
Moreover, light pollution in itself and independently of the energy consumption involved causes ecological problems. Mainly because it negatively affects the survival of different species due to the interference with processes such as orientation, reproduction or predation.
As if something was missing, it can also harm us humans with its negative health effects.
It is clear that light pollution also hinders and sometimes directly hinders astronomical observations. This is a problem not only for professionals or enthusiasts of astronomy, but it robs mere mortals of an important part of our cultural heritage. We don’t enjoy the starry sky, and there are children who haven’t even been able to see it.
Given what has been seen, light pollution is a polyhedral problem that needs to be approached from different perspectives. This was exactly what several professionals thought when we founded the Spanish Network for Studies on Light Pollution (REECL) in 2011. Specialists in various disciplines dealing with light pollution took part in it: astronomy and astrophysics, physics, biology, ecology, physiology, engineering and even law.
Only a multidisciplinary context makes it possible to provide integrated answers and solutions to a problem as complex as excessive artificial light.
Undoubtedly, those who first drew attention to this problem, and often the most vindictive, were astronomers and experts in optics (the part of physics that studies the laws and phenomena of light).
For one who looks at the sky at night, the profusion of light, paradoxically, presupposes blindness. Its adverse effects on astronomical observations even make it necessary to locate professional observatories in increasingly remote places.
As for the effects of light pollution on the environment, at the moment no one disputes that light pollution is the most disruptive element of nightlife. Rare is the living being, be it an animal or a plant, that is not directly or indirectly affected by it. After all, most living things have evolved under a more or less constant regime of light and dark (day and night) cycles.
Due to the introduction of artificial light, many organisms mistakenly see this light as a signal that, under natural conditions, starts or stops crucial processes in their life cycle. Clear examples of the threat that light pollution poses to biodiversity are the death of seabirds during their first flights to the sea or the gradual change of food chains and the functioning of ecosystems.
The REECL has supported studies on the subject for years and has experts in the field: from researchers whose field focuses on insects to experts on seabirds.
No less important than the above is the effect that after-hours light and light pollution have on health. Specialists in physiology, especially chronobiology, know that night light can delay sleep, cause insomnia, and cause mood or metabolic disorders, such as diabetes or obesity. It is even related to the risk of some cancers.
But why are we chronobiologists concerned with this part? Well, because the harmful effects of night light on our health have to do with the “confusion” it causes on our internal clock… We do indeed have a biological clock, located in a small hidden part of our brain (in the especially, in the suprachiasmatic nuclei) which is responsible for synchronizing physiological processes so that our bodies function as best as possible day and night. It has only one small “bug”, which is that it needs to be set to the time every day as it tends to be late.
It is precisely the daily transition between the light of the day and the darkness of the night that is responsible for this daily reset. We’re talking about a cycle that, of course, has been inexorably produced for millions of years, until, exactly! Electric light arrived. And with it the deterioration of that precious possession that is nighttime darkness.
That is why it is so important for chronobiologists to study how light pollution affects circadian rhythms, that is, physiological variables that repeat approximately every 24 hours, such as the sleep-wake cycle itself, body temperature, or hormone secretion such as melatonin and cortisol.
In other words, its role is to specify what happens to this cyclical light-dark phenomenon as the darkness becomes “less dark” and shorter and at the same time the day gets dimmer because of the long time we spend indoors. natural light.
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In the REECL we are clear that, in some circumstances, the night must be lit. And it is precisely the studies that arise in this context of multidisciplinary collaboration that aim to help illuminate only what is needed through responsible lighting that minimizes damage to the starry sky, the environment and health.
It is important to remember that artificial light outside at night is a pollutant. All light, not just “unnecessary” or “excessive” light. Let’s settle it as such.
Perhaps this will allow us to save the Milky Way from memory so that it can be part of our legacy to the cultural heritage of those who come after us.
This article was also prepared by: Jaime Zamorano, Complutense University of Madrid; Joaquín Baixeras Almela, University of Valencia; María ngeles Bonmatí Carrion, University of Murcia; Salvador Bara, University of Santiago de Compostela. It was published in ‘The conversation‘.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
