![]() ![]() Global map of Earth at night, providing a view of the patterns of human settlement across our planet. People tend to be far more aware of air and plastic pollution, but light pollution is comparatively much easier for us to solve. To solve a problem, we must first be aware of it. But these maps can’t tell us what light pollution looks like from the ground. The biggest problem we face is that we are only just beginning to understand the magnitude of light pollution.īy measuring the light that reflects back up from the earth into space, we can create light pollution maps. As melatonin levels fall, our important sleep is disrupted and our chance to combat disease is reduced.Īnimals that remain in our cities have disrupted sleep, increased stress and must change their behaviours to accommodate the loss of darkness. ![]() This is critical as melatonin plays a vital role in maintaining our sleep-wake cycles, but it’s also a powerful antioxidant. The lights we have installed in our homes and streets have shifted a delicate biological balance – we sleep for less time and we sleep less deeply.Įven short periods of exposure to very dim light (less than that produced by your bed side lamp) can reduce melatonin concentrations in our bodies by 50 percent. Research suggests artificial light has negative effects on human health, increasing risks for sleep disturbances, obesity, diabetes and certain cancers. The great Emu in the Sky is an Aboriginal Australian constellation composed of the dark patches of the Milky Way. This loss of the night sky has dramatic consequences, and not just because it pushes astronomical observatories that depend on pristine, unpolluted skies further into the interior of the country. Today the familiar skyglow that forms the backdrop to our urban environments can reach more than 30 kilometres beyond the last working streetlight. This important part of indigenous culture and heritage is disappearing, and disappearing fast, as light spills from our urban streets into the surrounding countryside. Its orientation is a sign of the time to hunt for emus or collect their eggs. For example, the great Emu in the Sky is an Aboriginal Australian constellation composed of the dark patches of the Milky Way – the space between the stars. Stars have helped shaped human culture for thousands of years. Of course they’re still there, but we can’t see them because of light pollution: the excessive and misdirected anthropogenic and artificial light that has invaded our night skies. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |