Affects Of Light Pollution example essay topic

Light pollution happened slowly at first which was several decades ago it was a process that was hardly noticeable. A light here, a light there, burning way into the dark nighttime realm, helping us see in the darkness when people all their our beds fast asleep. The process still continues today, with little thought ever given to what we are stealing away. Our intentions are good but our methods need adjustment, and they needs to be done immediately. In fact, our methods should have been changed years ago, but nearly everyone has resisted, perhaps due to a profound lack of awareness. The use of too many lights at night can cause environmental pollution, known as light pollution.

Light pollution can block our ability to see the original shining stars, which can affect people's discoveries in astronomy. But since the lights are also very important for us at night when we are driving or walking alone on a street, I think there are certainly some solutions for protecting our natural environment while we can also use the lights at the same time. To admire the beautiful stars in the sky instead of looking at it in a picture, we can start to save energy resources by cutting off some unnecessary lights such as commercial building lights, outdoor residential lights, and by using shielded light to reduce the amount of light that we use in certain areas. Light pollution is when sky glow produced by the scattering of artificial light caused by the poor quality of outdoor lighting (Nakata) causing too much wasted light dispersed upwards.

Therefore recent studies show that "Nationally, more than 30% of the electricity generated for outdoor illumination is simply squandered by being misdirected into the sky. That comes to 4.5 billion dollars annually" (Lipsitz) for the electricity generated to send light into the sky and across property lines where it serves no benefit. Wasted light sent to the sky needlessly and seriously affects scientific research today for professional and amateur astronomers along with some NASA research. Astronauts have complained about this problem for years. Astronomical observatories are closing down because they can no longer see enough celestial objects to justify continuing their funding or research. For example, the Hubble telescope's research is interrupted by light pollution, it was affected so much that astronomers did not get to see certain crashing comets that crash into gravity pulling plants like earth.

Astronomers cannot see these comets until they get close enough even if one of these comets was coming toward earth. So if a crashing comet was coming towards earth for impact, the astronomers might not get to see it until it might be too late for the government to do something to destroy it in a safe distance from earth. But we are lucky that the only time this happened before was in the instance where the comets were the size of briefcases and they evaporated in the atmosphere, but maybe the next time mankind might not be so lucky. So by using only the amount of light we need in different areas, we would be able to properly manage our light resource and easily solve this problem. This will save towns, its citizens, and its business owner's lots of money. It will improve the quality of life for everyone who has directed light unnecessarily beaming into their windows and across their yards at night.

It will vastly improve the safety for all drivers and pedestrians, and it will greatly enhance the nighttime appearance of people's community's by removing the needless visual clutter and glare that is always typical of obtrusive outdoor lighting. There are several types of light pollution, such as glare, the light that blinds and harms our eyes; light trespass, which is when someone uses a light resource that offends us; clutter, that makes the objects difficult to see at night; and energy waste. Light pollution is caused by light coming from improperly designed street and parking lot lights that are misdirected towards the sky, but omitting the place that people want to be seen (Lipsitz). These lights mainly come from commercial and traffic signs, commercial building lights, sports facilities, and outdoor residential lights. The night is being turned into day in most areas by poorly designed and improperly aimed unshielded outdoor lighting. Lights brighten our roads and highways from dusk to dawn, whether vehicles are traveling or not.

It lights our parking lots and building exteriors whether or not employees or patrons are present. We think bright light frightens away crime, but no study has yet proven this to be true. The best assumption that can be made by these studies is people merely have a feeling of safety. Crime continues to rage on in large cities that never seem to sleep while remaining bathed in a nocturnal glow.

The glow comes from bad lighting applied by designers who don't understand the four elementary concepts, which are shield it, point it down, don't use more than you need, and turn it off when you are done and not there. As the number of lights we use at night increases because of population growth and industrialization, the more difficult it will be for us to see the stars. However, as the human population started booming in the past and more industries wanted to work later hours than sunset, light pollution increased. In fact, an astronomer discovered this glow because the usage of light was blocking the astronomer from discovering new objects in the solar system. The knowledge and discovery of the galaxies is a priceless heritage.

However, light pollution is blocking the view of stars in the sky. What is going to be discovered by the astronomers? and the valuable knowledge for the future will disappear because we are unable to see into space. In addition to that, two generations now live on our world never having seeing the stars in the Universe (Haas) because of light pollution in most urban areas. And even the people that see stars they cannot really see the amount of stars that they are intended to see without light pollution.

Since there is too much light pollution, astronomers try to build their viewing station in the rural area, so there won't be as much affect and the sky will be clearer. Adding to this negative impact, Wesleyan University's Van Vle ck Observatory is located less than 2 miles away from a bridge that has decorative lighting installed. The lighting design involves an initial cost of over $763,000 to install 172 unshielded necklace lights. These lights have no target to illuminate except the sky, water below, and 160 upward shining floodlights that will only hit 5% of their intended targets. The annual electricity cost to illuminate this bridge will be over $19,500, and as a result, the taxpayers will have to pay this unnecessary price tag.

Because of the light pollution caused by the bridge, this vulnerable telescope was recently converted for visual astronomy to the general public instead of being used for research and education (Haas). Nonetheless, for astronomers these are the best and the worst of times because, powerful telescopes and sophisticated accessories are available at moderate prices, and detailed celestial information is accessible at the flip of a page or the tap of a keyboard (Mullen). But, never have so many people lived under such "muddy skies". Light from street lamps, signs, and spotlights is blotting out our night skies. Light pollution is the cause. Under the darkest skies, some 2,500 stars are visible to the naked eye.

But in the suburbs, only about 300 may be seen on a clear night, city sky watchers may see a few dozen (Rao). However, some people may never know what a starry sky looks like. At many North American observatories, including Tucson's Kitt Peak and Los Angeles's Mount Wilson the ever-brighter light of encroaching cities has forced astronomers to permanently abandon some work, such as the search for distant galaxies. Light pollution is not only disliked by "star gazers", but recently has been debated at the meeting of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). This once would have been an event purely for astronomers, featuring researchers that work on topics as diverse as migratory birds and breast cancer. 'If it's just a concern for astronomers, many people will dismiss this as a narrow, special interest group,' says Dan Green of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the event's organizers.

'We " re stressing the security, energy-efficiency, health and ecological benefits of good lighting' Cancer epidemiologist Richard Stevens, from the University of Connecticut in Farmington, provided one example of this wider focus. He discussed potential links between the increased incidence of breast cancer, especially in the industrialized world, and the way in which exposure to night-light can disrupt natural secretion cycles of the hormone melatonin. "Low levels of melatonin, which is thought to be responsible for our daily, or circadian, biological rhythms, have been linked to breast cancer" (Nadis, 868). Impact studies are performed on the environment before development occurs by experts who consider nearly every aspect.

One question seems to be rarely, if ever, considered. How will that burning unshielded string or cluster of lights affect the environment around them? Benevolently they are only trees, squirrels or birds in the trees, or maybe a fox or a deer here and there. Why would they care if a light burns all night long? It may have been too long since these evaluators opened their biology books and read the chapter on photosynthesis and plant cycles, which states that the process of every green plant needs a measure of darkness to properly complete its circadian rhythm. It says that the whining sunlight of seasonal change causes some plants to become dormant and drop their leaves.

For countless seasons, this process continued on schedule without error until a mere few decades ago. In the 1970's, the U.S. Department of Agriculture noticed that dusk to dawn lighting from a high-pressure sodium lamp affected young sycamore trees. This confused their seasonal rhythms, resulting in the remain of sap in leaves and the elongation of branches. "They dropped their leaves too late, frost came and the cold of winter soon followed" (Nadis, 868). The following spring, many of the one-year-old saplings perished.

The force behind the mystery that killed these trees was dust to dawn lighting. People need light to see in the dark while most of the world is fast asleep in their beds. Has anyone ever considered why a robin chips at 2: 30 AM? He thinks dawn is breaking. The dawn doesn't come for hours, yet that unshielded light burns away in the distance confusing it's little birdbrain. Also, on a beach far away a hoard of young sea turtles hatch from their eggs and trod into their fresh new world.

They enthusiastically scurry across highways and parking lots, instead of into the ocean where they belong. The bioluminescence of the sea is obscured by an unshielded streetlight (Nadis), or a gas station canopy beacon ing another customer who might just pass by unless they are dazzled by ten times or more the amount of light that is needed to see. The next day, hundreds if not thousands of tiny turtles lay dead from exhaustion and dehydration, only to be picked up by birds or baked dry by the sun. This happens to many endangered species because they are misdirected by bright artificial light instead of the stars that lie in the light polluted sky that cannot be seen by the creatures. Since this topic has affect many people other then astronomers and "star gazers, light pollution has become such a debatable topic that many countries and cities are doing things to improve their area and have less light pollution.

In fact, the Czech Republic has become the first country in the world to legislate against light pollution, a serious problem for astronomers working near towns and cities ('shields'). Czech city administrations adapted their streetlights, the main source of light pollution, to meet the new regulations they have made. The task was a mammoth one. 'In Prague a city in Czech Republic the whole street lighting system needs to be equipped with fully shielded light fixtures,' says Jeni k Holl an, an astronomer at the Nicholas Copernicus Observatory and Planetarium in Brno, who was involved in preparing the legislation ("shields").

Astronomy-friendly lights are rare in other places besides Czech Republic. However, Tucson, Arizona is one of only a few cities to have converted its streetlights so that they do not emit light upwards. Tucson put shielded lights into effect because it was affecting its local astronomers, which have made major discoveries that were beneficial to mankind. And the Tucson administration have refer to "An outdoors light system recently installed at a prison in Arizona which improved security and reduced light pollution while cutting energy costs by 50%" (Joshua D. ). The waste from poorly applied lighting affects everyone in our society including individuals, businesses and municipalities.

It does not matter whether they appreciate watching stars or not. Light Pollution costs us more in taxes, operating expenses for businesses, and in the price of all goods that we purchase. People can easily see this waste for themselves each time the clouds overhead glow an eerie pink at night. When that light outside finally shines one too many times through bedroom window, one may think of this paper, and it might compel people to write to their government representative requesting comprehensive Light Pollution reform. Reducing light pollution is possible. People could first start on their own by adjusting their backyard light to make sure their outdoor lights are directed down toward the ground in areas that need to be illuminated.

In addition, picking the right bulbs that are needed is also very important. Different types of shielded lights can help to reduce the affects of light pollution. Shield lights are outdoor artificial lights, usually streetlight, which uses less energy than the average consumed light by people, and it points downward towards the ground. When this is done by people, there will be less problems ranging from astronomical issues to animal sense of direction to breast cancer in humans, which will actually save people money instead of waste. Using time controls like motion sensors or light dimmers can help.

Such equipment will help people use light only when needed. Although some people fear the dark they think that bright light could help reduce the burglaries. Several studies have been done, and it has been proved there is no correlation between illuminated outdoor lighting and burglaries (Wainwright). The study presented that lights that are turned on quickly from a motion detector when a burglar is monitored can decrease the chance of burglaries in the U.S. because it would cause the burglar to assume that it has been noticed and the residents know he is present. By increasing security by using motion-detecting lights, it would be unnecessary to use many lights at night and we can use shielded light to avoid light pollution. Also, people could help to reduce light pollution by writing to their mayor and town council about simple ways to save energy and help reduce the lights that are unnecessarily lit at night.

By doing so, the mayor has the power to reduce lighting in public buildings, lighting that is unnecessary like, parking lots or office buildings at night when no one is present their. When people spend most of their time at work or school during the day hours, they will have to enjoy and entertain at night arguing, that there will be more lights used at night. Furthermore, to earn their profits, many businesses are opened at night for the younger people, such as bars, nightclubs, restaurants and cafes. Due to this fact, streetlights and commercial building's lights are lit during the night. These problems do not only happen in cities, but also affect suburb areas around the metropolis cities. New York City creates light pollution, therefore the towns near New York City in Hunterdon County also get affected.

But light pollution is not necessarily evil, because we need it at certain time. When we drive at night, we will need our headlights to see the road or when there are many people in certain places they will need enough light for them to entertain. We could leave the lights where they need to be used, but cut off all the other lights that are superfluous like our back yard lights, parking lot lights, and change them to the reliable shielded light. Reducing the cause sources and using shielded light can solve the environmental pollution problems. More is not better when we speak of light in the night. The view of the stars will return overhead where they belong when we finally learn to shield outdoor lighting, aim it downward to the ground where it is needed, use only as much as needed for the task, and turn it off when it is no longer necessary.

The reality is, an outdoor light is only needed when a human is there and needs to see where they are going during the dark. Burning a light after a person is gone when no one is nearby to benefit is simply a waste of both money and resources. "When our societies finally learn this concept, the pristine ebony blanket studded with tiny points of light coming from countless miles away will return again where they belong, where they have always been since the dawn of time itself, and where they should remain for countless generations to come" (Haas, ). Starting from today, we can do a little to help protecting our homeland that everybody shares, and give the chances to see the real stars in the future. Work Cited PageLipsitz, Joshua D. "Preliminary results of an Internet survey". Light pollution (13 Feb. 2001): 26 Mullen, Rutledge M. and Swain S. Modeling the Process of Science: Investigating the effects of light pollution.

Tennessee: Middle Tennessee State University, 1987. Nakata, Go shima K. "Despite light". Journal of the Galaxy. "Biologists join drive to turn down the lights".

Nature 419: 6910 (31 Oct. 2002): 868 Rao, Joe. "A clean, well-lighted planet". Natural History 106: 7 (Sep. 97): 70 Wainwright, Martin. "Bright lights do not deter criminals".

The Guardian (21 Nov. 2003): 14 Haas, Cliff. "Where has the night sky gone, and why should we care?" (Apr. 2000): 282.