Light pollution is the easiest pollution to fix — so why aren't we doing it?
www.salon.com
Light pollution is an existential threat that belongs in the same conversation as climate change, experts say
  • sndrtj@feddit.nlEnglish
    8·
    11 months ago

    I live in one of the most light-polluted areas in the world. Even Orion is hard to pick out, and even lunar eclipses visibly more muted than elsewhere.

    The main source of the worst pollution is not street lights. Instead, it’s industrial pollution coming from one of the largest collections of greenhouses worldwide a couple km. Many of them have growlights on all night long. On an overcast night, the sky is orange and purple - orange is the older technology with modern leds being purple.

    That said, i am hopeful for the future here. Between 2012 and 2018 the brightest areas have already become a little less bright. Let’s hope that trend continues.

    • schmorpEnglish
      4·
      11 months ago

      Oh shit, it’s that ‘eco-friendly’ agriculture of the future, is it? I guess you are from NL? I remember, from when I was little, my dad cursing about ‘holländische Gewächshaustomaten’ just to buy equally horrible tomatoes from Spain …

      I’ve noticed the same trend in PT. From 2001 to 2012, lights being added to the surrounding hills. Then they started switching off every second lamp, during Covid possibly more. Let’s hope for some dark, quiet times.

      • sndrtj@feddit.nlEnglish
        2·
        11 months ago

        Indeed, I live in The Hague, just a short hop from the Westland (where all the tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers are from). At least I can say I can get very local produce if I go the supermarket 😅.

        Even the “water bombs” (as we call them here) situation is improving. There are some really interesting new producers that actually focus on flavor instead of yield. The price naturally is high, but I’m enjoying Dutch tomatoes for the first time ever.

  • reddig33@lemmy.worldEnglish
    73·
    11 months ago

    Because dark streets mean more muggings, more burglaries, and more car accidents.

    Cities are slowly adding “blinders” to streetlights, and homes are switching to motion activated lights — but this will take time because most of it is only replaced when the previous fixture fails.

    • cerementOPEnglish
      71·
      11 months ago

      the connection between bright light and lack of crime has been pretty thoroughly debunked, criminals like to see what they’re doing just as much as anyone else – Paul Bogard, The End of Night (2013)

    • BruceTwarzen@kbin.social
      3·
      11 months ago

      I live in one of the safest part of the planet and people lost their shit when my town turned off every other street light. Not even on the main street, just the side street. They always talk about how unsafe it is and their children will die on the streets with no light. I walk my dog a lot at night and i have yet to see someone out on the streets, especially children who apparently roam around in the middle of the night.

    • itchick2014 [Ohio]@midwest.socialEnglish
      8·
      11 months ago

      Wasted light in this context is light that is not serving a purpose. For instance in my neighborhood there is a house that has security lights that shine well beyond their property lines and are triggered on sensor from across the street movement. These lights also illuminate upwards which provides no benefit. Simply controlling where light shines if you must have it is a good step to being a good neighbor and is better for nature as well.

    • schmorpEnglish
      6·
      11 months ago

      But it IS a finite resource. To produce light, you need energy. Even if you use renewables, you can only cover so much area of the planet with solar panels and wind generators. In a world run on electricity that is produced by limited means, we should consider where we want to use each kWh (‘bag of electricity’). Do you really want to render that image? Have that status light on all day? It’s small things, but they do add up.

      • blazera@kbin.social
        2·
        11 months ago

        Youre underestimating either how much electricity we can generate, or how efficient lights are nowadays. Way more energy is going into heating applications.

        • schmorpEnglish
          2·
          11 months ago

          So just because more harm is done with heating we shouldn’t care about this waste? Small differences also make a difference, especially if the wasted light does more harm than good. If your roof leaks in two places you don’t just go a fix the bigger leak.

  • 1chemistdown@kbin.social
    13·
    11 months ago

    Don’t worry, once North Korea realizes they can make a fortune off star gazing tourism we’ll all enjoy viewing an unperturbed night sky.