January 28th, 2008
The first step is education, Dr. Crawford says. Homeowners need to understand that sensible lighting will save them money and may actually increase security. Studies have shown that the glare from indiscriminate after-dark lighting makes the human eye less sensitive, less likely to see criminals lurking in the pockets of darkness that remain. When the city of San Antonio cut off the bright floodlights around its schools, vandalism dropped.
The next step is for homeowners to find and install well designed lighting products. “Such lighting exists now,” Dr. Crawford says. “The problem is getting it into the stores.” Such fixtures should direct light only where it is needed. Light that spills over into the neighbor’s yard or windows (“light trespass”) is not only wasteful, but rude. Security lights should be activated by motion detectors. Other outdoor lights should be put on a timer, or turned off when everyone goes to bed.
Think of the night sky as any other endangered natural environment — a rain forest or a trout stream — that can be damaged through exploitation and carelessness.
McDonald Observatory’s Bill Wren recalls a 1980 power failure that plunged the city of Austin, Texas, into darkness. Employees at the office where he was working poured out into the night and looked up in amazement.
“Many had never seen the Milky Way before,” he says. “They had grown up in the city.”
For more information on “keeping us in the dark”:
- The International Dark-Sky Association’s website is filled with practical information on lighting pollution, conservation, legislation, and other dark-sky matters. You can also join or donate to the IDA, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. See the association’s FAQs. In addition, the IDA supports the annual National Dark-Sky Week which will take place March 29 through April 4 in 2008. The observance, also backed by the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical League, seeks to raise awareness of light pollution and its effects on the environment.
- Sky & Telescope magazine offers extensive dark-sky information, including the “Bortle scale” for rating sky conditions over your community.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration archives photos of night lights in the United States that show the glowing metropolitan areas.
- Green Earth Lighting and Starry Night Lights, two online stores specializing in environmentally friendly, shielded, low-glare lights.
Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media
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