When Was The Last Time You Saw A Constellation In Night Sky?Man made pollution has affected our lives in more ways than one can imagine - but I hope that you would actually sit back and ponder on the question that I have asked - When was the last time you saw a constellation in night sky or showed it to your child. Do you remember when you were a child - and old wise man would point out to various zodiac signs in the sky, or the Sapt-Rishi (polar bear) shining bright in the horizon pointing to the north star. Do you remember the days when The Milky Way was 'visible' to naked eye and you didn't have to go to internet to search and look at how milky way looked like!
The two elements that have taken the joy away from me, and for you and the next generations for sure are
a. Air Pollution &
b. Light Pollution Air pollution comes due to various factors - though mostly from fuel consumption, either for transport or for energy requirements for the industries, houses and entertainment and is widely known for multiple problems faced by human race - burning eyes, allergies, lung infections and deteriorating health issues. Light pollution on the other hand has crept in and most of us don't even know that we have a serious problem at hand!
 I want the blue sky back during day, and wish I am able to watch the night sky as it used to be when I was young. My wish is not just for my viewing pleasure - but to pass on the knowledge to our children, make them familiar with the objects that I have grown up watching at night - and the stories that have been spun around them for ages (Have you read Homer's Iliad - oft claimed to have been nothing but an astronomy masterpiece dedicated to the gods of night skies)
Does your child ever ask you how did you point out the directions at night, watching north star - and now it takes you a while to find out where the polar bear is - or why Orion doesn't look anywhere familiar to the constellation that they have seen in their school book. Watching night sky in news papers or on Internet is no fun, or the 150 Rupees artificial glowing stars and planets for your bedroom. I hate to admit that I have to travel at least 100 Kms away from Delhi if at all I get time, to watch the night sky in its full glory. Unfortunately places 100Kms off radius too - are caught in the trap of industrialization and I suspect I would have to travel farther just to see a clear star filled night, with stars twinkling in magnificent manner and milky way is visible once again.
What is Light Pollution?
 Light pollution is also known as photo pollution or luminous pollution, is excessive or obtrusive artificial light. It obscures the stars in the night sky for city dwellers, interferes with astronomical observatories, and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects. Light pollution can be divided into two main types:
1) annoying light that intrudes on an otherwise natural or low-light setting and
2) excessive light (generally indoors) that leads to discomfort and adverse health effects.
Since the early 1980s, a global dark-sky movement has emerged, with concerned people campaigning to reduce the amount of light pollution.
Light pollution is a side effect of industrial civilization. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, commercial properties, offices, factories, streetlights, and illuminated sporting venues. It is most severe in highly industrialized, densely populated areas of North America, Europe, and Japan and in major cities in the Middle East and North Africa like Cairo, but even relatively small amounts of light can be noticed and create problems. Like other forms of pollution (such as air, water, and noise pollution) light pollution causes damage to the environment.
Types of Light Pollution
Sky Glow:
It's the light wastefully escaping into the night sky and causing a glow over urban/suburban areas. All the advertisement boards, neon lights, decoration and street lights contribute. Typically in all major cities, there is a red or orange halo in night sky that comes out of using sodium vapour or mercury lamps used all over the city to keep the city well lit.
Glare:
Ah - you are just too familiar with this one, driving in high beam is a fashion. Glare is the light shining dangerously out into peoples eyes as they walk or drive by, and the more sources we have on our vehicles - the more influential, powerful and mighty we are amongst the others.
Light Trespass:
We take pride in keeping our property illuminated against the intruders, and also to show off that we have enough money to waste in lighting up the house and the boundaries. So much so that it may even fall upon neighbours wall. Light trespass is the unwanted light shining onto a neighbors property or into their home.
Consequences of Light Pollution
Energy Waste
All light that keeps up the cities running at night lead to incredible amount of energy loss. A large amount of natural resources are burnt to provide electricity into homes to watch idiot box or surf on the net. The advertisement boards and hoardings consume enough to lit up a village and lights used for day night touranments in big stadiums is enough to illuminate a small city. And all this energy is generated at the expense of consuming incredible amounts of valuable natural resources. Hundreds of millions of barrels of oil, hundreds of millions of tons of coal and the need is just growing up everyday.
Human Health & Psychology
Medical research on the effects of excessive light on the human body suggests that a variety of adverse health effects may be caused by light pollution or excessive light exposure, and some lighting design textbooks use human health as an explicit criterion for proper interior lighting. Health effects of over-illumination or improper spectral composition of light may include: increased headache incidence, worker fatigue, medically defined stress, decrease in sexual function and increase in anxiety.
Disruption of Ecosystem
Life exists with natural patterns of light and dark, so disruption of those patterns influences many aspects of animal behavior. Light pollution can confuse animal navigation, alter competitive interactions, change predator-prey relations, and influence animal physiology.
Studies suggest that light pollution around lakes prevents zooplankton, such as Daphnia, from eating surface algae, helping cause algal blooms that can kill off the lakes' plants and lower water quality. Light pollution may also affect ecosystems in other ways. For example, Lepidopterists and entomologists have documented that night-time light may interfere with the ability of moths and other nocturnal insects to navigate. Night blooming flowers that depend on moths for pollination may be affected by night lighting, as there is no replacement pollinator that would not be affected by the artificial light. This can lead to species decline of plants that are unable to reproduce, and change an area's long term ecology.
Loss of Safety
It is generally agreed that many people require light to feel safe at night, but campaigners for the reduction of light pollution often claim that badly or inappropriately installed lighting can lead to a reduction in safety if measured objectively, and that at the very least, it is wrong to assume that simply increasing light at night will lead to improved safety.
The International Dark-Sky Association claims there are no good scientific studies that convincingly show a relationship between lighting and crime. Furthermore, the association claims that badly installed artificial lights can create a deeper contrast of shadows in which criminals might hide. The New England Light Pollution Advisory Group claims that some light emitted by some fixtures can be a significant hazard to motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists due to their scattering of light and glare.
Effect on astronomySkyglow reduces the contrast between stars and galaxies in the sky and the sky itself, making it more difficult to detect fainter objects. This is one factor that has caused newer telescopes to be built in increasingly remote areas. Some astronomers use narrow-band "nebula filters" which only allow specific wavelengths of light commonly seen in nebulae, or broad-band "light pollution filters" which are designed to reduce (but not eliminate) the effects of light pollution by filtering out spectral lines commonly emitted by sodium- and mercury-vapor lamps, thus enhancing contrast and improving the view of dim objects such as galaxies and nebulae. Unfortunately this affects color perception, so these filters cannot be used to visually estimate variable star brightness, and no filter can match the effectiveness of a dark sky for visual or photographic purposes. Due to low surface brightness, the visibility of diffuse sky objects such as nebulae and galaxies is affected by light pollution more than are stars. A simple method for estimating the darkness of a location is to look for the Milky Way.
What can we do to minimize it?
Reducing light pollution implies many things, such as reducing sky glow, reducing glare, reducing light trespass, and reducing clutter. The method for best reducing light pollution, therefore, depends on exactly what the problem is in any given instance.
Possible solutions include:
- Utilizing light sources of minimum intensity necessary to accomplish the light's purpose. (Like using low beam while driving)
- Turning lights off using a timer or occupancy sensor or manually when not needed.
- Improving lighting fixtures, so that they direct their light more accurately towards where it is needed, and with less side effects.
- Adjusting the type of lights used, so that the light waves emitted are those that are less likely to cause severe light pollution problems.
- Evaluating existing lighting plans, and re-designing some or all of the plans depending on whether existing light is actually needed.
- Go back to the old routine of early to bed and early to rise. Not only would your health improve and you would feel better through out the day, you would also spend less time watching stupid programs on the television or surfing the net or attending late night parties and driving around the city.
Each one of us can contribute to the reduction of Light Pollution in our own ways. First, by making sure that our exterior lighting is ordinance compliant lighting. By this, is meant that they only light the ground beneath them and never shines across onto a neighboring property or into the night sky. Secondly, by making sure that your outdoor lights are only on when needed. By this, is meant that they're only on when there is activity in the area. Dusk to dawn lighting is to be strictly avoided. Thirdly, reduce the wattage of your bulbs. The human eye is remarkable in its ability to adapt to the amount of light present. Too much light can be overwhelming and glaring actually reducing visibility. Even a small reduction in wattage will reduce light pollution. You might be surprised with how well you can see at night with a reduced wattage. Try it out and see what works for you.
Become part of the solution - act today and share what you have done to help all mankind!
What to expect from the governments?
With recent advances in private spaceflight, the prospect of space-based orbiting billboards appearing in the near future has provoked concern that such objects may become another form of light pollution. With this in mind, the United States Federal Aviation Administration sought permission, in May 2005, to enforce a law prohibiting "obtrusive" advertising in earth orbit. Similar intentions are yet to be expressed by authorities in most other countries.
Your Views & Ideas?
Do you agree to the views presented here, or have a point to make? Do feel free to contact us with your stories, suggestions and inputs. Light pollution is not an individuals issue - it's our collective responsibility and we shouldn't hesitate to become part of solution! Also if you have a website related to light pollution, you may send us your link to add on our site as well as visit SEO Human Edited Web Directory to list your website in relevant category. Vedic Prayer
Asto Ma Sadgamaya - Lead me from untruth to Truth.
Tamaso Ma Jyotrigamaya - Lead me from darkness to Light.
Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya - Lead me from death to Immortality |
