State-Protected Dark Skies Could Change Astrotourism Forever

Julia Eskins 

© Getty


The Milky Way has inspired humans for centuries. But with light pollution making it more difficult to figure out where to go stargazing, more states are taking action to protect the future of their night skies.

Last month, Nevada’s Senate passed a bill recognizing the state’s “dark sky places,” where views of the galaxies draw thousands of visitors per year. If made law, Bill 52 will create a program to help locations navigate the process of earning a new state-level “dark sky” designation and in turn, support environmental conservation and the local economy.

The proposed program follows the footsteps of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), an Arizona-based organization that works to designate and protect dark skies around the world. The IDA’s mission is a considerable feat, considering light pollution is now increasing by over 2 percent each year—double the rate of population growth—but experts say the pandemic could be making the rest of us more invested in protecting our view of the stars, too.

“In some places, it's just dawning on people that if they go outside and look at the night sky, the stars are missing,” says John Barentine, director of public policy at IDA. “They're discovering the phenomenon of light pollution, maybe for the first time.”

© Elizabeth M. Ruggiero The dark skies of Nevada's Great Basin National Park

According to satellite data, 80 percent of North Americans can no longer see the Milky Way from where they live, which makes traveling to an internationally recognized dark sky place even more appealing. There are already two in Nevada: Great Basin National Park and the Massacre Rim Wilderness Study Area—both of which saw a spike in visitors after earning their IDA certifications. Meanwhile, seats on Nevada Northern Railway’s Star Train, which follows a nighttime route through Great Basin before stopping to allow passengers to view the planets through telescopes, are regularly sold out. The proposed legislation aims to expand on these options for travelers in Nevada.

Leveraging stars to support sustainable travel

Other states are considering how multi-location dark sky zones could distribute tourism traffic more evenly and encourage travelers to stay longer. In Utah, there is a growing push to create the largest International Dark Sky Reserve recognized by the IDA. If all goes to plan, the Southeastern Utah Night Sky Reserve will span over 20,200 square miles, bridging the skies between nine national parks and monuments, 16 towns and cities, eight state parks, and a large portion of the Navajo Nation.

The focus makes sense. Night-sky tourism, which typically necessitates one or more overnight stays, can increase travel spending. Dark sky advocates are just hopeful that new hospitality developments don’t further contribute to light pollution, says Barentine.

© Getty

The Rise of Astrotourism Could Potentially Be Its Downfall

As more and more travelers turn their eyes to the stars, are we doing enough to keep them visible?

Utah hotels like Amangiri, which caters to astronomy lovers with its open-ceiling sky terraces and private stargazing sessions, could be a template for dark sky lodging done right. The remote luxury property has made an effort to keep outdoor lighting to a minimum—even arming guests with flashlights upon check-in.

In Colorado last year, the state’s tourism board launched Colorado Stargazing: Experience the Night, a self-guided tour that connects seven locations famous for their night skies. One is the IDA-recognized dark sky community of Westcliffe where, as of 2021, you can rent out the Smokey Jack Observatory for a private star party or go on a nighttime Amish wagon ride in Wet Mountain Valley while marveling at constellations.

Battling blue light

While being a certified dark sky place can attract more travelers, meeting the rigorous criteria necessary to achieve IDA designation isn’t easy. In order to qualify with the IDA, lighting best practices must be adopted, which range from placing street lamps on timers to using warm-colored bulbs.

Blue LED light is particularly disruptive to dark skies, wildlife, and humans, and has been linked to everything from sleep disorders to diabetes, according to a report by the American Medical Association. And yet, the world is consuming more LED light than ever due to its energy efficiency.

“If it's done well, LED lighting could save the world. But when it's not, it can make light pollution much worse,” says Barentine, who points to Flagstaff, Arizona, as an example of a city that successfully reduced its street lighting emissions by 20 percent after converting to dimmable LED lights. Now, dark sky advocates are focusing on the proliferation of digital billboards, which—while cheap—emit light sideways and often aren’t regulated according to brightness.

© DenisTangneyJr The Milky Way, as seen in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

A new non-partisan bill being put forward in Massachusetts hopes to address how the state oversees outdoor lighting, and specifically blue light, in public spaces. The proposed changes, which include using fully shielded lighting fixtures for roadways and parking lots, could help reduce skyglow across the state.

“To our knowledge, we would be the first state to limit harmful too-blue lighting,” says Tim Brothers, a site manager at the MIT Wallace Astrophysical Observatory who supports the bill. “It’s not hard to imagine that if we start setting the example at the state-level, others will follow and we could actually restore some of our natural nighttime ambience.”

Brothers says this legislation could create new astrotourism opportunities in destinations like the Berkshires and Cape Cod National Seashore, and restore a view of the Milky Way strewn across an inky black sky.

As states begin to roll out their own policies and the IDA continues its work, there is new enthusiasm for the shared protection of dark skies—and the stargazing opportunities it could create. Natural wonders have always drawn travelers but with the prospect of new road trip routes, moonlit train rides, and midnight hikes, we now have a few more reasons to get outside.

 

Mysterious results in an experiment may be due to dark energy

Shane McGlaun - Sep 16, 2021, 

One of the most mysterious subjects that scientists around the world are studying is called dark energy. Scientists believe dark energy is the mysterious force that leads to acceleration in the universe. A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge has published a study that suggests unexplained results obtained from an experiment conducted in Italy called XENON1T could have been caused by dark energy.

Interestingly, the experiment was designed to detect dark matter, but Cambridge scientists believe dark energy could account for the mysterious and unexplained results from the experiment. In the study, physical models were constructed in an attempt to explain the experiment results. Study researchers believe the experiment results could have been caused by dark energy particles in a region of the sun dominated by strong magnetic fields.

Unfortunately, additional experiments will be required to confirm their theory. Nevertheless, scientists are excited at the possibility of the discovery of dark energy. Currently, estimates predict that everything we can see with our eyes in the universe accounts for less than five percent of what’s there. Most of the material in the universe is dark, and theories suggest 27 percent of the entire universe is dark matter.

Dark matter is described as a force that holds galaxies and the cosmos itself together. Scientists also believe that 68 percent of the universe is made up of dark energy causing the universe to expand and accelerate. Since both dark matter and dark energy are invisible, little is known about them.

The presence of dark matter was first theorized in the 1920s, but dark energy wasn’t discovered until 1998. Scientists say that while the experiment was intended to detect dark matter, detecting dark energy is even more difficult. The study comes after the XEON1T experiment discovered an unexpected signal about a year ago that was higher than the expected background. Researchers on this study decided to explore a model where the unexpected signal was attributed to dark energy rather than dark matter. Scientists admit they are still far from understanding dark energy, and additional experiments are needed.

Have we detected dark energy? Scientists say it's a possibility

by University of Cambridge

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and reported in the journal Physical Review D, suggests that some unexplained results from the XENON1T experiment in Italy may have been caused by dark energy, and not the dark matter the experiment was designed to detect.

They constructed a physical model to help explain the results, which may have originated from dark energy particles produced in a region of the Sun with strong magnetic fields, although future experiments will be required to confirm this explanation. The researchers say their study could be an important step toward the direct detection of dark energy.

Everything our eyes can see in the skies and in our everyday world—from tiny moons to massive galaxies, from ants to blue whales—makes up less than five percent of the universe. The rest is dark. About 27% is dark matter—the invisible force holding galaxies and the cosmic web together—while 68% is dark energy, which causes the universe to expand at an accelerated rate.

"Despite both components being invisible, we know a lot more about dark matter, since its existence was suggested as early as the 1920s, while dark energy wasn't discovered until 1998," said Dr. Sunny Vagnozzi from Cambridge's Kavli Institute for Cosmology, the paper's first author. "Large-scale experiments like XENON1T have been designed to directly detect dark matter, by searching for signs of dark matter 'hitting' ordinary matter, but dark energy is even more elusive."

To detect dark energy, scientists generally look for gravitational interactions: the way gravity pulls objects around. And on the largest scales, the gravitational effect of dark energy is repulsive, pulling things away from each other and making the Universe's expansion accelerate.

About a year ago, the XENON1T experiment reported an unexpected signal, or excess, over the expected background. "These sorts of excesses are often flukes, but once in a while they can also lead to fundamental discoveries," said Dr. Luca Visinelli, a researcher at Frascati National Laboratories in Italy, a co-author of the study. "We explored a model in which this signal could be attributable to dark energy, rather than the dark matter the experiment was originally devised to detect."

At the time, the most popular explanation for the excess were axions—hypothetical, extremely light particles—produced in the Sun. However, this explanation does not stand up to observations, since the amount of axions that would be required to explain the XENON1T signal would drastically alter the evolution of stars much heavier than the Sun, in conflict with what we observe.

We are far from fully understanding what dark energy is, but most physical models for dark energy would lead to the existence of a so-called fifth force. There are four fundamental forces in the universe, and anything that can't be explained by one of these forces is sometimes referred to as the result of an unknown fifth force.

However, we know that Einstein's theory of gravity works extremely well in the local universe. Therefore, any fifth force associated to dark energy is unwanted and must be 'hidden' or 'screened' when it comes to small scales, and can only operate on the largest scales where Einstein's theory of gravity fails to explain the acceleration of the Universe. To hide the fifth force, many models for dark energy are equipped with so-called screening mechanisms, which dynamically hide the fifth force.

Vagnozzi and his co-authors constructed a physical model, which used a type of screening mechanism known as chameleon screening, to show that dark energy particles produced in the Sun's strong magnetic fields could explain the XENON1T excess.

"Our chameleon screening shuts down the production of dark energy particles in very dense objects, avoiding the problems faced by solar axions," said Vagnozzi. "It also allows us to decouple what happens in the local very dense Universe from what happens on the largest scales, where the density is extremely low."

The researchers used their model to show what would happen in the detector if the dark energy was produced in a particular region of the Sun, called the tachocline, where the magnetic fields are particularly strong.

"It was really surprising that this excess could in principle have been caused by dark energy rather than dark matter," said Vagnozzi. "When things click together like that, it's really special."

Their calculations suggest that experiments like XENON1T, which are designed to detect dark matter, could also be used to detect dark energy. However, the original excess still needs to be convincingly confirmed. "We first need to know that this wasn't simply a fluke," said Visinelli. "If XENON1T actually saw something, you'd expect to see a similar excess again in future experiments, but this time with a much stronger signal."

If the excess was the result of dark energy, upcoming upgrades to the XENON1T experiment, as well as experiments pursuing similar goals such as LUX-Zeplin and PandaX-xT, mean that it could be possible to directly detect dark energy within the next decade.

New study sows doubt about the composition of 70 percent of our universe

More information: Sunny Vagnozzi et al, Direct detection of dark energy: The XENON1T excess and future prospects, Physical Review D (2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.063023

Journal information: Physical Review D 

Provided by University of Cambridge 

Dark Energy Could Be Responsible for Mysterious Experiment Signals, Researchers Say

What if a bunch of liquid xenon under the Apennine Mountains found 68% of the universe?

By
Isaac Schultz
Friday 3:03PM

The XENON1T Time Projection Chamber TPC in a clean room.

Photo: XENON1T / Purdue University

A team of physicists at the University of Cambridge suspects that dark energy may have muddled results from the XENON1T experiment, a series of underground vats of xenon that are being used to search for dark matter.


Dark matter and dark energy are two of the most discussed quandaries of contemporary physics. The two darks are placeholder names for mysterious somethings that seem to be affecting the behavior of the universe and the stuff in it. Dark matter refers to the seemingly invisible mass that only makes itself known through its gravitational effects. Dark energy refers to the as-yet unexplained reason for the universe’s accelerating expansion. Dark matter is thought to make up about 27% of the universe, while dark energy is 68%, according to NASA.

Physicists have some ideas to explain dark matter: axions, WIMPs, SIMPs, and primordial black holes, to name a few. But dark energy is a lot more enigmatic, and now a group of researchers working on XENON1T data says an unexpected excess of activity could be due to that unknown force, rather than any dark matter candidate. The team’s research was published this week in Physical Review D.

The XENON1T experiment, buried below Italy’s Apennine Mountains, is set up to be as far away from any noise as possible. It consists of vats of liquid xenon that will light up if interacted with by a passing particle. As previously reported by Gizmodo, in June 2020 the XENON1T team reported that the project was seeing more interactions than it ought to be under the Standard Model of physics, meaning that it could be detecting theorized subatomic particles like axions—or something could be screwy with the experiment.

“These sorts of excesses are often flukes, but once in a while they can also lead to fundamental discoveries,” said Luca Visinelli, a researcher at Frascati National Laboratories in Italy and a co-author of the study, in a University of Cambridge release. “We explored a model in which this signal could be attributable to dark energy, rather than the dark matter the experiment was originally devised to detect.”

“We first need to know that this wasn’t simply a fluke,” Visinelli added. “If XENON1T actually saw something, you’d expect to see a similar excess again in future experiments, but this time with a much stronger signal.”


Despite constituting so much of the universe, dark energy has not yet been identified. Many models suggest that there may be some fifth force besides the known four known fundamental forces in the universe, one that is hidden until you get to some of the largest-scale phenomena, like the universe’s ever-faster expansion.

Axions shooting out of the Sun seemed a possible explanation for the excess signal, but there were holes in that idea, as it would require a re-think of what we know about stars. “Even our Sun would not agree with the best theoretical models and experiments as well as it does now,” one researcher told Gizmodo last year.

Part of the problem with looking for dark energy are “chameleon particles” (also known as solar axions or solar chameleons), so-called for their theorized ability to vary in mass based on the amount of matter around them. That would make the particles’ mass larger when passing through a dense object like Earth and would make their force on surrounding masses smaller, as New Atlas explained in 2019. The recent research team built a model that uses chameleon screening to probe how dark energy behaves on scales well beyond that of the dense local universe.

“Our chameleon screening shuts down the production of dark energy particles in very dense objects, avoiding the problems faced by solar axions,” said lead author Sunny Vagnozzi, a cosmologist at Cambridge’s Kavli Institute for Cosmology, in a university release. “It also allows us to decouple what happens in the local very dense Universe from what happens on the largest scales, where the density is extremely low.”

The model allowed the team to understand how XENON1T would behave if the dark energy were produced in a magnetically strong region of the Sun. Their calculations indicated that dark energy could be detected with XENON1T.

Since the excess was first discovered, ​​the XENON1T team “tried in any way to destroy it,” as one researcher told The New York Times. The signal’s obstinacy is as perplexing as it is thrilling.

“The authors propose an exciting and interesting possibility to expand the scope of the dark matter detection experiments towards the direct detection of dark energy,” Zara Bagdasarian, a physicist at UC Berkeley who was unaffiliated with the recent paper, told Gizmodo in an email. “The case study of XENON1T excess is definitely not conclusive, and we have to wait for more data from more experiments to test the validity of the solar chameleons idea.”

The next generation of XENON1T, called XENONnT, is slated to have its first experimental runs later this year. Upgrades to the experiment will hopefully seal out any noise and help physicists home in on what exactly is messing with the subterranean detector.

  

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LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ETHER (plawiuk.blogspot.com)

Nevada Senate passes bill to form 'dark sky places' program

UofA DECLARED LAKE MIQUELON IN ALBERTA A DARK SKY ZONE

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada's state Senate took a step toward ensuring stargazers will continue to enjoy picture-perfect constellations on Monday, passing a bill to recognize “dark sky places” with unobstructed views of galaxies hundreds of thousands of light years away.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Legislature's upper chamber unanimously passed the proposal to create a state program aligned with the International Dark Sky Association to designate the state's stargazing havens and encourage their use for education, preservation and tourism.

“This increase in attention to Nevada and our dark skies really provides us an opportunity, especially during this pandemic, to capitalize on an asset that we have,” Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall said during a committee hearing last week.

Marshall, who is sponsoring the bill, said Nevada is known among stargazers for having some of the darkest skies in the country.

Her office has worked with the rural Nevada communities of Tonopah and Beatty on tourism initiatives to attract visitors to marvel at the celestial views away from the fluorescent glow of street lights, casinos and tall buildings that remain lit-up at night.

The International Dark Sky Association recognizes 14 dark sky sanctuaries in the world and two are in Nevada: Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada and the Massacre Rim Wilderness Area in western Nevada, near the state line with Oregon.

The bill does not include provisions to protect dark sky places from development that could bring encroaching light pollution. Marshall said the purpose of the designations was to promote tourism and economic activity for rural communities near dark sky places and their small businesses.

Maine, New Hampshire and New Mexico all have laws on their books to encourage the preservation of dark skies.

State Sen. Julia Ratti, D-Sparks, said protecting Nevada’s dark skies would complement projects underway, including the construction of an observatory in Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. Ratti, who serves as director on the Great Basin National Park Foundation’s board, said it would be the first facility of its kind built in a national park.

The bill received support from wilderness advocates, business groups and local officials from throughout rural Nevada, including Lincoln County.

Federal agencies control 98% of the county's land, most of which is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Defence, which owns the Nevada Test and Training Range.

Marcia Hurd, the president of the Lincoln County Tourism Authority, said a lack of land for unrestricted commercial activity led to economic struggles in the county and a reliance on tourism. She hopes dark sky designations will bring additional tourists to eastern Nevada.

“Living in an area where you can clearly see the Milky Way just by stepping out your backdoor is something that everyone should have the opportunity to experience,” Hurd wrote in a letter to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources.

The bill now moves to the Assembly and must be signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, before becoming law.
___

Sam Metz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative . Report for America is a non-profit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Sam Metz, The Associated Press

Stars could be invisible within 20 years as light pollution brightens night skies

The increased use of light-emitting diodes is obscuring our  view of the Milky Way as well as taking a toll on human and  wildlife health

Robin McKie   27 May 2023 

The Herefordshire hills basked in brilliant sunshine last weekend. Summer had arrived and the skies were cloudless, conditions that would once have heralded succeeding nights of coal-dark heavens sprinkled with brilliant stars, meteorites and planets.

It was not to be. The night sky was not so much black as dark grey with only a handful of stars glimmering against this backdrop. The Milky Way – which would once have glittered across the heavens – was absent. Summer’s advent had again revealed a curse of modern times: light pollution.


The increased use of light-emitting diodes (LED) and other forms of lighting are now brightening the night sky at a dramatic rate, scientists have found. Indiscriminate use of external lighting, street illumination, advertising, and illuminated sporting venues is now blinding our view of the stars.


In 2016, astronomers reported that the Milky Way was no longer visible to a third of humanity and light pollution has worsened considerably since then. At its current rate most of the major constellations will be indecipherable in 20 years, it is estimated. The loss, culturally and scientifically, will be intense.

“The night sky is part of our environment and it would be a major deprivation if the next generation never got to see it, just as it would be if they never saw a bird’s nest,” said Martin Rees, the astronomer royal. “You don’t need to be an astronomer to care about this. I am not an ornithologist but if there were no songbirds in my garden, I’d feel impoverished.”

Rees is a founder of the all-party parliamentary group for dark skies which recently produced a report calling for a host of measures to counter the curse of light pollution. These include proposals to appoint a minister for dark skies, create a commission for dark skies and set strict standards for the density and direction of lighting.

The introduction of a carefully selected package of planning rules to control obtrusive light – backed by legal clout and penalties for non-compliance – could make major differences, the committee stressed. The alternative would be to lose sight of night skies “painted with unnumber’d sparks,” to quote Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Research by physicist Christopher Kyba, of the German Centre for Geosciences has revealed that light pollution is now causing the night sky to brighten at a rate of around 10% a year, an increase that threatens to obliterate the sight of all but the most brilliant stars in a generation. A child born where 250 stars are visible at night today would only be able to see about 100 by the time they reach 18.

Sea turtles are among the wildlife adversely affected by light pollution. Photograph: Alamy

Gazing at a night sky crossed by a glittering Milky Way has become a splendour of another age, Kyba told the Observer. “A couple of generations ago, people would have been confronted regularly with this glittering vision of the cosmos – but what was formerly universal is now extremely rare. Only the world’s richest people, and some of the poorest, experience that any more. For everybody else, it’s more or less gone.” Nevertheless, the introduction of only a modest number of changes to lighting could make a considerable improvement, Kyba argued. These moves would include ensuring outdoor lights are carefully shielded, point downwards, have limits placed on their brightness, and are not predominantly blue-white but have red and orange components.


“Measures like that would have an enormous impact,” he added.

The problem is that light pollution is still not perceived by the public to be a threat. As Professor Oscar Corcho, of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, has put it: “The negative consequences of light pollution are as unknown by the population as those of smoking in the 80s.”

Yet action is now urgently needed. Apart from its astronomical and cultural impact, light pollution is having serious ecological consequences. Sea turtles and migrating birds are guided by moonlight. Light pollution causes them to get confused and lose their way. Insects, a key source of food for birds and other animals, get drawn to artificial lights and are immediately killed upon contact with the source.

The case against light pollution goes further. Bluish emissions of LEDs are almost entirely lacking any red or near infrared light, said Prof Robert Fosbury, of the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London (UCL). “We are becoming starved of red and infra-red light and that has serious implications,” he said. “When reddish light shines on our bodies, it stimulates mechanisms including those that break down high levels of sugar in the blood or boost melatonin production. Since the introduction of fluorescent lighting and later LEDs, that part of the spectrum has been removed from artificial light and I think it is playing a part in the waves of obesity and rises in diabetes cases we see today.”

UCL researchers are preparing to install additional infrared lamps in hospitals and intensive care units to see if they have an effect on the recovery of patients who would otherwise be starved of light from this part of the spectrum.

“It’s going to take a huge effort to change the face of the planet and turn LEDs into more friendly lighting,” said Fosbury. It’s going to be a big job but we need to do it because it is having a very damaging effect on human health.”

Stars to become invisible to our eyes in two decades due to light pollution, warn scientists

London, United KingdomEdited By: PrishaUpdated: May 29, 2023

Representational image. Photograph:(Others)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The view of the Milky Way in the night sky is being obscured by the increased use of light-emitting diodes, which is also taking a toll on the health of humans and wildlife

Scientists have warned that the ability of humans to see the cosmos in the night sky may vanish in just 20 years because of light pollution.

“The night sky is part of our environment and it would be a major deprivation if the next generation never got to see it, just as it would be if they never saw a bird’s nest,” said Martin Rees, the British astronomer royal, while speaking to The Guardian.

“You don’t need to be an astronomer to care about this. I am not an ornithologist but if there were no songbirds in my garden, I’d feel impoverished,” he added.

ALSO READ | NASA spacecraft discovers how Jupiter's lightning shares similarity with Earth's

In the last few years, the issue of light pollution has rapidly worsened, especially since 2016 when it was reported by astronomers that the Milky Way is no longer visible to almost a third of the population, as per Rees.

Scientists stated that the increasing light pollution is now brightening up the night sky at a rate of around 10 per cent per year.

No cosmos for future generations

A child who is born in a place where 250 stars are currently visible in the night sky would be able to see only 100 by the time they reach the age of 18, stated Christopher Kyba, of the German Centre for Geosciences.

“A couple of generations ago, people would have been confronted regularly with this glittering vision of the cosmos – but what was formerly universal is now extremely rare. Only the world’s richest people, and some of the poorest, experience that anymore. For everybody else, it’s more or less gone,” Kyba added.

WATCH | IIST: WION reports from Indian institute of space science and technology

He further argued that the introduction of some changes to lighting can make a considerable improvement. These steps would include shielding outdoor lights and pointing them downwards, limiting the brightness of lights, and ensuring that they are not predominantly blue-white but have red and orange components. “Measures like that would have an enormous impact,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Prof Robert Fosbury, of the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London (UCL) claimed that bluish emissions of LEDs entirely lack any red or near-infrared light. “We are becoming starved of red and infra-red light and that has serious implications,” he stated.

“When reddish light shines on our bodies, it stimulates mechanisms including those that break down high levels of sugar in the blood or boost melatonin production. Since the introduction of fluorescent lighting and later LEDs, that part of the spectrum has been removed from artificial light and I think it is playing a part in the waves of obesity and the rise in diabetes cases we see today,” Fosbury added.

(With inputs from agencies)

The Hidden Cost of Light Pollution

Reynard Loki

 January 20, 2026

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After midnight at the Megler Bridge, near the mouth of the Columbia River, Astoria, Oregon. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

The night sky—the silent dark between stars—is a living commons bridging Earth, life, and spirit. As the 13th‑century Zen master Eihei Dōgen taught in Keisei Sanshokuor “The Sound of the Streams, the Shape of the Mountains,” rivers, forests, mountains, and night are not mere backdrops but the body and speech of the Buddha—sacred, alive, and deserving reverence.

Imagine stepping outside on a clear night, looking up at the stars, only to find the heavens dimmed to a faint, featureless glow. Where once the Milky Way stretched across the sky, now only a handful of stars remain visible to the naked eye. This creeping veil is light pollution—the quiet theft of night’s natural darkness. It spills from streetlights, billboards, and high-rise windows, casting cities in a permanent, artificial twilight.

While it leaves no residue in air or water, its effects ripple through life on Earth, confusing migrating birds, misleading sea turtle hatchlings, and disorienting nocturnal animals. The same lights also negatively impact humans, disrupting sleep, altering hormone cycles, and affecting overall health. Also, access to natural darkness is not equally experienced: communities differ in how light—or the lack of it—shapes public safety, cultural life, and ecological exposure.

An international team of researchers notes that “[m]any of the behavioral and physiological processes of life on Earth are connected to daily and seasonal cycles. For example, visual predation requires sufficient light, and predator-prey interactions are therefore expected to be affected by sky glow.” In response, groups like DarkSky International have emerged as advocates for protecting natural darkness, safeguarding both our view of the stars and the countless species whose survival depends on nighttime.

Mažeika S.P. Sullivan, director of the Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park and lead author of a 2018 research published in Ecological Applications, said, “We are experiencing this pollution that we don’t think about, but it’s all around us and it’s chronic and it’s happening everywhere—from newly lit villages in rural Africa to streams alongside the highway in Columbus, Ohio. It’s also unprecedented in Earth’s history.”

Taylor Stone, a scholar in environmental ethics, argues that natural darkness has intrinsic moral value and should be considered alongside clean air and water while making decisions about urban lighting and biodiversity protection.

The Growing Problem of Light Pollution

Light pollution refers to any excessive, misdirected, or intrusive artificial lighting that disrupts natural darkness. Scientists identify four primary forms of light pollution: glare from overly bright lights; sky glow, the diffuse brightening of the night sky in inhabited spaces; light trespass, where unwanted light spills where it “is not intended or needed”; and clutter, the visual confusion created by dense, competing light sources.

Urban growth intensifies all four components. Streetlights, signage, stadiums, and architectural lighting cast a constant haze over cities.

Since 1992, global artificial light at night has grown substantially, with satellite‑based measurements showing at least a roughly 50 percent increase in detectable light emissions over 25 years and indications that total light output may have risen several times more than that when accounting for emissions satellites miss.

Citizen science data collected between 2011 and 2022 reinforce the rapid growth of light pollution. Volunteers around the world have documented steadily dimming night skies, with an estimated annual increase in sky brightness of roughly 9.6 percent—a rate faster than satellite measurements suggest. These observations highlight how even areas with policies meant to limit artificial light are still experiencing a marked decline in darkness. In practical terms, a child born today in a region where 250 stars were once visible might see fewer than 100 stars by the time they reach adulthood, illustrating just how dramatically our view of the cosmos can fade in a single generation.

Researchers warn that “Artificial light at night is significantly correlated for all forms of cancer, as well as lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers individually. Immediate measures should be taken to limit artificial light at night in the main cities around the world and also inside houses.”

Dana Zartner, assistant professor in the International Studies Program and adjunct professor in the School of Law at the University of San Francisco, highlights that the global spread of artificial light and the resulting loss of natural darkness are having significant impacts on nearly all living things, including human health, animal behavior, and cultural and spiritual practices—a reality she and her co‑authors argue must be addressed through new legal and policy strategies to protect the night.

The most visible impact of light pollution is the erasure of the Milky Way. Sky glow washes out faint stars, leaving urban residents with a dim, impoverished sky. The Bortle Scale, which measures the brightness of the night sky in a specific location, shows that many cities now fall into the brightest categories, where the Milky Way is invisible. A 2016 study revealed that the Milky Way is not visible to more than one-third of the human population. “[M]ore than 80 percent of the world and more than 99 percent of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies,” the study published in Science Advances stated. In urban centers like New York, Beijing, and Mumbai, entire generations have grown up without experiencing a true night sky.

The cultural and psychological loss is profound. Philosopher Ivan Illich argued that environmental commons—silence, darkness, and natural space—can be destroyed through unchecked technological intrusion, constituting “the most fundamental form of environmental degradation.” Modern researchers echo this sentiment, noting that artificial night lighting disrupts ecological cycles and human perception. Losing natural darkness diminishes imagination, culture, and shared frameworks shaped by the night, even as artificial lighting creates new kinds of cultural and creative expression.

Impacts on Wildlife and Human Health

Artificial light destabilizes natural behaviors that nocturnal species rely on, including hunting, mating, and migration. Birds navigating by moonlight and starlight often collide with buildings, while sea turtle hatchlings, drawn to the brightest horizon, may head inland instead of the ocean. Plants and pollinators are affected as well: artificial lighting alters flowering schedules, interferes with insect activity, and weakens the delicate balance between plants and the species that sustain them. “About 30 percent–40 percent of insects that approach street lamps die soon thereafter… as a result of collision, overheating, dehydration, or predation,” stated a 2018 study published in Ecology and Evolution.

Researchers Davide M. Dominoni and Randy J. Nelson highlight how blue-enriched artificial lighting shifts activity patterns, hormone cycles, and energy use across species. These effects occur not only in cities but also along roads, industrial installations, and other lit areas, showing that artificial illumination impacts life far beyond urban centers.

Nocturnal insects—from moths to beetles—are exquisitely tuned to the rhythms of darkness. Artificial lighting disrupts navigation, feeding, and mating behaviors, drawing many to luminous traps where they perish or become easy prey. These declines ripple through ecosystems: birds, bats, reptiles, and amphibians lose vital food sources, while plants lose essential pollinators. Scientists reviewing more than 150 studies concluded that artificial light at night, combined with habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, and climate change, is “another important—but often overlooked—bringer of the insect apocalypse.”

Research shows that artificial light shifts the timing of activity in nocturnal, crepuscular, and diurnal species, rewiring food webs and destabilizing ecological networks. “Nighttime light is having profound impacts that extend to the entire ecosystem,” said Sullivan.

Humans, like all life, evolved under predictable cycles of light and dark. Artificial light at night (ALAN) suppresses melatonin, disrupts sleep, and raises risks of insomnia, anxiety, obesity, and diabetes, and has been linked to increased risks of cancers in sites such as the breast and colorectum. Blue-enriched LEDs, screens, and nighttime signage magnify these effects, particularly in children.

“Blue wavelengths of light are damaging to many forms of life, and glare from unshielded light compromises road safety and infiltrates bedrooms, suppressing melatonin production, undermining sleep quality and duration, and exacerbating susceptibility to many kinds of illness,” explains an article in the AMA Journal of Ethics.

Lighting, Safety, and Equity After Dark

Decisions about nighttime lighting are never neutral. They reflect whose safety is prioritized, whose presence in public space is welcomed or discouraged, and which communities bear the costs of either over- or under-illumination. In many cities, low-income neighborhoods and communities of color are exposed to harsher, more intrusive lighting—often justified in the name of crime prevention—while wealthier areas benefit from subtler, better-designed illumination or protected dark skies. At the same time, inadequate lighting in under-resourced areas can limit nighttime mobility, restrict access to public space, and heighten real or perceived risks for residents.

These tradeoffs raise critical questions of environmental justice. Excessive lighting contributes to health harms, disrupts sleep, and degrades local ecosystems, impacts that are not evenly distributed. Who lives under glaring streetlights that shine into bedrooms all night? Who loses access to darkness as a cultural, spiritual, or restorative experience? And who has a voice in deciding how the night is shaped? Initiatives like Light Justice emphasize that equitable nighttime lighting requires engaging historically neglected communities in the design process, ensuring that all neighborhoods benefit from safe, culturally vibrant, and ecologically responsible illumination.

Equitable nighttime design requires moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches. It means engaging communities directly, recognizing different cultural uses of night, and designing lighting that supports safety and social life without turning public space into zones of constant surveillance or ecological disruption. When lighting policy accounts for equity, it becomes possible to protect both human well-being and the shared nighttime environment—ensuring that darkness and light alike are treated as common goods, not privileges.

Designing the Night: Balancing Safety, Health, and Ecology

Fortunately, communities can design night lighting that meets human needs—providing safety, visibility, and public enjoyment—while minimizing harm to wildlife, ecosystems, and human health. For example, Groveland, Florida, achieved International Dark Sky Community status in 2023 by implementing shielded, warm‑colored, and context‑sensitive lighting across streets and public spaces to reduce sky glow and enhance safety and nighttime experience.

Flagstaff, Arizona, has long maintained dark‑sky‑friendly lighting codes that balance urban illumination with sky preservation; zoning regulations restricting outdoor lighting per acre were approved by the city and county in 1989, and on October 24, 2001, Flagstaff was recognized as the world’s “first International Dark Sky City” by the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) for its pioneering work in protecting dark skies while addressing public safety and community needs.

Shielded, downward-facing lights minimize glare while maintaining visibility; warm-colored bulbs reduce blue-light emissions that disrupt wildlife and human circadian rhythms; and motion sensors or dimmers ensure lighting is only switched on when needed, supporting both safety and energy efficiency. Supporting local dark sky ordinances to protect the night skies helps entire neighborhoods and cities transition to healthier, more sustainable lighting, protecting nightscapes without compromising nighttime activity or security. The U.S. National Park Service provides outdoor lighting principlesthat demonstrate how shielded, targeted fixtures can reduce light pollution without compromising visibility.

Global Solutions and Dark Sky Sanctuaries

By certifying preserves, supporting community lighting policies, and raising awareness, DarkSky International provides practical solutions to reclaim the night. It protects and certifies dark sky preserves, advocates for responsible lighting, and equips communities to reduce glare and sky glow. Certified preserves—found on almost every continent—demonstrate that intentional lighting policies can restore star-filled skies. DarkSky has certified more than 200 dark sky places since 2001, spread across 22 countries.

For those seeking to experience the night sky in its natural glory, DarkSky International recognizes sanctuaries worldwide, including Big Bend National Park in Texas, Aoraki Mackenzie in New Zealand, NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia, and Exmoor National Park in the UK, while Jasper National Park in Canada was designated a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in partnership with Parks Canada. These preserved landscapes show what is possible when lighting is carefully managed, offering a glimpse of the sky as it once was—and as it can be again.

Paul Bogard, author of The End of Night, writes: “Tonight, wherever you are, go outside and look at the sky. Can you see the wonders? … This was the darkness in which all life evolved and which our body and spirit still crave.” Chad Moore, a former wildlife biologist with the U.S. National Park Service, states: “When we add light to the environment, that has the potential to disrupt habitat, just like running a bulldozer over the landscape can.”

Light pollution is more than an aesthetic loss. It disrupts ecosystems, endangers wildlife, threatens pollinators, and affects human health. By shielding lights, reducing glare, advocating for dark sky policies, and supporting dark sky preserves, communities and individuals alike can reclaim the night. The night belongs to all life. Ensuring that future generations can see the stars also means addressing who benefits from thoughtfully designed lighting and who bears the burdens of over- or under-illumination, making equity central to reclaiming the night. Preserving darkness ensures that future generations can still look up and see the stars—a shared inheritance worth protecting.

This article was produced by Earth • Food • Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute, with research support from Meghan Grady.

Reynard Loki is a writing fellow at the Independent Media Institute, where he serves as the editor and chief correspondent for Earth | Food | Life.