this Light pollution It is a problem that has grown by leaps and bounds since the advent of LED technology. The effects are many: the disappearance of stars in the night sky, harming birds and other animal and plant species (which need darkness to live), as well as altering the rest of humans.
Alicia Pelegrina, who attended the opening of the CSIC’s Andalusian Institute for Astrophysics (IAA) Sky Quality Office, explains: light pollution, what do we know about the latest book in the collection? (CSIC-Cataract) warns of the causes and effects of this phenomenon. “We associate light with wealth, joy and security, but improper use of artificial lighting has become a serious environmental problem. It is a type of pollution that does not harm, cannot be heard, and is not smelled. We don’t see this as a problem, but excessive light is responsible for the massive death toll of some birds, destabilizes ecosystems, is a key factor in insect extinction, and causes changes in our organism,” says the author.
this The new world atlas of sky shine already warned in 2016 80% of the planet’s inhabitants live under polluted skies and a third of the world’s population cannot see the Milky Way. If we look at Europe or the United States, the numbers skyrocket: 99% of the population cannot enjoy a view of the starry sky.
But, What is light pollution and how does it occur? In Spain, the Cel Fosc association defines it as a replacement of the natural darkness of the night environment produced by artificial light sources. There are two properties that make artificial light a very dangerous pollutant: the ability to spread in all directions and the speed at which it does so, 300,000 km/h while moving in vacuum. “Particles in the atmosphere interact with light and scatter in all directions. It’s as if the particles are acting like some kind of secondary light source,” points out the CSIC expert.
Too much light power and poorly directed spotlights
The scientific community devoted to astronomy has been warning about this problem for some time. But besides that artificial glow of the night sky This makes it difficult to explore the cosmos, there are other ways light pollution manifests itself, for example: most intrusion, it is produced when the luminous flux exceeds the area to be illuminated and floods other areas. This happens when light from streetlights enters your bedroom or in coastal areas where artificial light reaches large bodies of water. Another facet of this kind of pollution is flareIt occurs when artificial light is pointed directly at our eyes or when there is too much light in a certain area.
In reality, most of the problem is street lights, spotlights and other light sources are misdirected: show the sides or even up when they need to point down. Excessive light power and unnecessarily long hours in said lighting are other causes of this problem.
this type and direction of artificial light from outdoor lighting are some of the factors described in the text to quantify the harmful effects of fighting the dark. In our cities, street lamps consist of lamps, which are the source of light, and fixtures, which are the structure that contains and supports the lamp. Correct design of both parts is essential for correct lighting.
According to Pelegrina, “lamps less polluting, longer wavelengths that emit light in the spectrum visible to the human eye, that is, lamps that emit an orange light.The least scattered and most respectful lights in the atmosphere are those that do not emit light in the upper hemisphere. This minimizes the effect on the increase in brightness of the night sky. On the other hand, lights in white or bluish tones should always be avoided as they are the most harmful.
Artificial light: the rules of the game are broken
The light and dark cycles are very important for living things. The author compares natural light to an umpire, which “controls biological mechanisms and functions such as reproduction, foraging, migration or flowering, which ensures that the match goes smoothly. Artificial light breaks these cyclical patterns and affects remote natural areas because of its ability to travel long distances. from big city centers where light points are concentrated. In fact, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, light pollution affects two-thirds of key biodiversity areas from the world.
30% of vertebrates and 60% of invertebrates are nocturnal. From this data we can deduce imbalances caused by light that appears in unexpected places and times. this vermin constituting the most abundant living group on our planet and one of the most vulnerable to light pollution. Night-dwellers describe light as a sign of safety and orientation. This explains why they are ‘captured’ when flying around an obsolete lamppost, or exhaustion from constant flight, for example a lamppost that killed them. Artificial lights are thus a retaining wall for migratory movements of insects and the movement of organisms that feed on them.
Birds are also surprised and change their way of reproduction. Seabird chicks suffer from constant light on their way from nest to sea. in the Canary Islands Thousands of chickens die every year when they fall on the streets and highways. dazzled on its first flights. Turtles, on the other hand, do not go out to lay their eggs on the beaches. And those who have no guarantees of their offspring, as their offspring mistook the streetlights for the glow of the moon and could not reach the shore. The situation in the open sea is not improving. this first world atlas of underwater light pollution A report published by the University of Plymouth in 2021 states that at a depth of one meter, almost two million square kilometers of coastal oceans are exposed to artificial light at night.
The rhythm doesn’t stop and our health suffers
Almost everyone has heard of the biological clock, which governs our body and gives the command to activate a range of functions according to whether it is day or night. These fluctuations, which are repeated every 24 hours, are known as fluctuations. circadian cycles, and we change them. In the words of the IAA-CSIC expert, “our cities have become a ’24/7 seamless’ system. Alteration of the natural light-dark cycle due to the abuse of artificial light at night. This way our clock goes crazy and starts sending signals at night that it should send in the morning. This is what is known as chaos chronodisruption. Many studies link this phenomenon to cardiovascular diseases, insomnia, lack of concentration, fertility problems, dietary changes and even some types of cancer.”
In our country, the Barcelona Institute of Global Health conducted a study with more than 40,000 people aged 20-85 from 11 autonomous communities in 2018. The results were clear: yes an association between exposure to high levels of blue light at night (emitted by most white LED lights and screens of tablets and mobile phones) and increased risk of breast and prostate cancer.
Towards sustainable lighting
You don’t have to press the button and go back to the bonfires to fix this problem. The Doctor of Environmental Sciences recommends some measures that can already be implemented. “It’s a matter of lighting in a better, more sustainable way, avoiding radiating light directly into the sky, using only the required amount of light directed at what we need to see, in the spectral ranges of our eyes. they can detect it and at the appropriate time”, he confirms.
Legislation is an essential tool to achieve these goals. Italy and France have the most advanced dark sky protection laws in the worldbut we still do not have a state law on light pollution in our country; Autonomous communities such as the Canary Islands and Catalonia have only some measure. The Royal Decree to shut down lighting in shop windows and public buildings will have repercussions on light pollution levels, but “we are faced with an environmental challenge that weighs enough to form our own approach strategy. Everything gets mixed up, but we can’t stay here”, explains Pelegrina.
In any case, light pollution is an environmental problem with a strong social component. “This is why it is so important to be aware of the situation and bring this information closer to citizens. We have a moral obligation to protect the starry sky for ourselves and the future,” he concludes.
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