subject: A Bright Look at Light Pollution [print this page] A Bright Look at Light Pollution A Bright Look at Light Pollution
The phenomenon of light pollution refers to the pollution that is caused due to the existence of billions of sources of light that are poor in design compared to what they originally should be. Light as we know it today is directed in all directions; up, down, and all over the place, instead of the one place that the actually should be projected, that is downwards.
If you were to text in "light pollution" in a search engine on the internet, and then click on images for the same, you would be hit by millions of images of the night sky, showing the inadvertent use of lights, that too in a manner in which they may or may not be the most productive. Not only do these lights cause unnecessary wastage of energy, it also leads to the energy bills that you have to pay for seem like you are paying for the entire neighborhood. Ever driven on a dark road, and found yourself hit in the eyes by bright car headlights projecting upwards, instead of downwards? Well, if your answer to this is yes, then you are a victim of light pollution. The confusion and feeling of dizziness is the very indicator that we are doing something wrong, and it only becomes worse when we realize that this light is adding to the cause of global warming.
The effects of light pollution:
If you are an adult now, you will remember how it was to lie on the green grass, under the starry sky and look for different constellations. Try to do that now, and while the grass may or may not be existent, there is definitely no chance that you will be able to see more than ten stars or even a single constellation if you are in the city. Your chances might be a slight bit better if you are living in a village or on farmland. This phenomenon because especially bad where the cities have really grown and the presence of artificial light is at the highest. Many disgruntled people living in their cities are today known to call their cities, "starless cities".
A lot of residents and business tycoons say that the main reason that they make use of so much light that pollutes is that they are not ready to compromise on the security or the advertising of their products. Not really, these people should understand that light too bright, especially lighting that is projected upwards may not be the best thing either for security or for their advertising. The only way these upward facing lights are going to help is if the area is being attacked by aliens from another planet. And that is not happening. Back in the terrestrial world, the cause of security is actually hampered instead of helped by such great amount of lighting, because it blinds the people.
Now if you are thinking that we are suggesting you turn off all your lights and sit in the dark of the night so that light pollution is prevented, we are not. All we are saying is make use of light only where necessary, project your light only in the direction that is needed, and above all, do not direct the light onto the sky.
