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L’light pollution it is increasing, and it is happening much faster than we thought. A new study has just revealed it published in the magazine Science and conducted by a team of researchers from German Research Center for Geoscience of Potsdam coordinated by Christopher Kyba. The scientists pooled data from observations of the night sky conducted primarily by astronomy enthusiasts and astronomers citizen scientistwho for over ten years have counted the visible stars and sent the numbers to the portal Globe at Night. “By analyzing tens of thousands of observations – reads in perspective accompanying the article – the authors of the work discovered that the dimmer stars are now hidden due to the 10% increase in light pollution due to artificial lighting”. The fact that it was necessary to rely on a seemingly rudimentary method like star counting to detect this phenomenon is part of the problem: “With the satellites we have available today, it is difficult to quantify the increase in light pollution – the experts continue – because their detectors are not sensitive to blue light of the leds which are now replacing all other sources of illumination: it would therefore be appropriate to have more advanced satellites sensitive to visible light in different frequencies. Only in this way will it be possible to better understand the problem and try to mitigate it, especially for its negative effects both in cultural terms [non riuscire a vedere le stelle, per l’appunto, nda] that ecological and healthy”.
Previous
The issue of light pollution is nothing new. Already half a century ago, in 1973, a study (always Published on Science) had pointed his finger at “great qualitative and quantitative changes in lighting technology in recent years”which they were causing “an increase in night brightness of about 20% each year, with consequences for some astronomical programs”. More recently, in June 2016, a group of scientists (including Kyba himself and the Italian Fabio FalchiofInstitute of Science and Technology of Light Pollutionwho is co-author of the perspective mentioned above) had published on the pages of Science Advances a very detailed (and merciless) world atlas of light pollution, which showed how the phenomenon had grown in recent years to the point of affecting as much as 80% of the world’s population. Another work, published the following year and based on satellite observations – therefore affected by the problem of “blindness” to LED light – had revealed that artificial light increased by 2% in intensity and extent every year. Indeed, as showed a report published byEuropean Space Agency last year, it is precisely the LED lights that represent a problem, however paradoxical: “LEDs certainly represented a revolutionary innovation, because they made it possible to reduce energy consumption [dovuto all’illuminazione] and to improve night vision; however, overall, light pollution has increased. Paradoxically, the cheaper and more efficient the lighting, the more we become ’employees’ from the light”.
Consequences and remedies
The problem of light pollution clearly does not “only” deprive us of the pleasure of seeing the stars, nor does it limit itself to disturbing astronomical programs for observing the sky. The consequences, as anticipated, are more serious and profound: we know, for example, that light pollution has effects on behavior of some nocturnal animals, e seems to be related to the (at least local) decrease in the number of insects; moreover, he is responsible for sleep disorders and other dysfunctions in both humans and other animals, which are progressively reducing the use of night vision.
“The problem of light pollution can be mitigated in many ways Kyba explained. for instance improving the design of the direction, intensity and type of lighting and providing for the possibility of dimming the use of lights when and where they are not needed. It’s true that we will never get to a scenario where the city skies aren’t lit up at night. But it is reasonable to think that, with appropriate improvements in lighting, even those who live in cities with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants can be able to see the Milky Way simply by rolling their eyes.”.
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