One-third of the world cannot see the Milky Way — why that matters
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Ninety-nine percent of the U.S. and European populations live under the bright glow of light pollution, and 60% of Europeans cannot see the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system.
Hide Caption
4 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Some of the world’s darkest skies can be found on the African continent. The countries with the most pristine nights are Chad, Central African Republic and Madagascar, according to the study.
Hide Caption
5 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
The country with the worst source of light pollution is Singapore. The population is under such extreme light conditions that people’s eyes “cannot fully dark-adapt to night vision,” the study finds.
Hide Caption
6 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Light pollution is a problem not just because it obscures our vision of the stars and space, but also because it affects people’s health, wildlife and economies, researchers explain.
Hide Caption
7 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Scientists created a world atlas that shows the prevalence of artificial sky brightness. The colors denote the levels of light pollution around the globe.
Hide Caption
1 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Most Americans are exposed to light pollution. Some areas with the least amount of artificial light can be found in the western part of the country, according to scientist and study author Fabio Falchi.
Hide Caption
2 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Some organizations are trying to fight light pollution. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is honoring dark sky sanctuaries, areas that have pristine night skies. One of these sanctuaries can be found in the Elqui Valley of northern Chile.
Hide Caption
3 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Ninety-nine percent of the U.S. and European populations live under the bright glow of light pollution, and 60% of Europeans cannot see the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system.
Hide Caption
4 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Some of the world’s darkest skies can be found on the African continent. The countries with the most pristine nights are Chad, Central African Republic and Madagascar, according to the study.
Hide Caption
5 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
The country with the worst source of light pollution is Singapore. The population is under such extreme light conditions that people’s eyes “cannot fully dark-adapt to night vision,” the study finds.
Hide Caption
6 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Light pollution is a problem not just because it obscures our vision of the stars and space, but also because it affects people’s health, wildlife and economies, researchers explain.
Hide Caption
7 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Scientists created a world atlas that shows the prevalence of artificial sky brightness. The colors denote the levels of light pollution around the globe.
Hide Caption
1 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Most Americans are exposed to light pollution. Some areas with the least amount of artificial light can be found in the western part of the country, according to scientist and study author Fabio Falchi.
Hide Caption
2 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Some organizations are trying to fight light pollution. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is honoring dark sky sanctuaries, areas that have pristine night skies. One of these sanctuaries can be found in the Elqui Valley of northern Chile.
Hide Caption
3 of 7
Photos: Light pollution hides Milky Way from 80% of Americans
Ninety-nine percent of the U.S. and European populations live under the bright glow of light pollution, and 60% of Europeans cannot see the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system.
Hide Caption
4 of 7
Story highlights
- Eighty-three percent of the world’s population lives under a haze of artificial light
- Extremely bright night skies can cause ecological problems, health issues and wasteful spending
(CNN)If you look up at the evening sky, there’s agood chance you will not be able to see what yourgrandmother saw when she was a little girl.
That’s because we’re enshrouded in an artificial haze oflight that is blocking the night sky, a phenomenonscientists call light pollution.
Scientists believe one-third of humanity cannot view the Milky Way — this includes 80% ofAmericans and 60% of Europeans because city lights are creating fogs of light pollution,according to a new study that published Friday in the journal of Science Advances.
The Milky Way sparkles over the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
An international team of scientists created a world atlas of artificial sky luminance that detailshow light pollution is permeating our planet. This light is obscuring our vision of the stars,celestial events and the Milky Way — the galaxy that contains our solar system.
Although there are a few patches of pristine dark sky still left in the world, 83% of the world’spopulation and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under the bright glowof light pollution.
“This is a huge cultural loss with unforeseeable consequences in the future generations,”scientist Fabio Falchi, one of the authors of the study, says. “Pristine night skies are a preciousmerchandise.”
Stunning new image of our galaxy 00:47
The most light-polluted country in the world isSingapore, the study finds.
“The entire population lives under skies so bright thatthe eye cannot fully dark-adapt to night vision,”according to the study. This means people living in thecountry never have the chance to experience truedarkness.
Here are other countries where more than half of theirinhabitants are living under extremely bright skies,according to researchers. (The numbers denote thepercentage of the population affected by light pollution.)
Kuwait (98%)
Qatar (97%)
United Arab Emirates (93%)
Saudi Arabia (83%)
South Korea (66%)
Israel (61%)
Argentina (58%)
Libya (53%)
Trinidad and Tobago (50%)
The countries with populations least affected by light pollution include Chad, Central AfricanRepublic, and Madagascar. More than three-quarters of people in these countries are livingunder pristine night sky conditions.
The dangers of too much light
The findings shows that light pollution is a global issue, and many countries are affected by a fogof artificial light. But light pollution doesn’t just obscure our view of space.
This over-saturation can impact our culture, cause global ecological problems, pose publichealth issues and create wasteful energy spending, the researchers warn.
For instance, artificial light has a direct effect on human physiology and behavior. For instance, itcan alter our circadian rhythm and affect production of some of our hormones, a 2007 medicalstudy found. It can also disrupt our sleep cycle by suppressing melatonin creation andincreasing cortisol levels — a hormone that is linked to stress.
Researchers found that people living in urban environments were the most affected by lightpollution, but what is troubling is that the glow of city lights is creeping into unpopulated areastoo.
This is important because artificial lights can negatively affect wildlife. For example, streetlightsnear shorelines can cause baby turtles who have just hatched to become disoriented andwander inland instead of into the ocean, causing them to die because of dehydration orexposure to predators, according to research by the Sea Turtle Conservancy.
So why has our world been overtaken by light pollution?
“Light pollution is also a consequence of the belief that artificial light increases safety on roadsand prevents crimes, but this belief is not based on scientific evidence,” the study states.
Saving the darkest skies
“It is always surprising to find out how in few decades of lighting growth we enveloped most ofus in a light curtain that hide the view of the greatest wonder of nature, the universe itself,” Falchisays.
In less than a 100 years, artificial lights have transformed the sky. Millions of children will neverexperience the Milky Way, according to the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), anorganization combating light pollution.
Light pollution “robs us of the opportunity to experience the wonder of a natural night sky,”according to the organization’s site.
In order to persevere the world’s limited patches of pristine night sky, IDA launched theInternational Dark Sky Places conservation program in 2001, which encourages communities toprotect dark sites.
Up all night with a village of star gazers 01:48
Some of these International Dark Sky Sanctuaries,which are the most remote and darkest places in theworld, include the Associated Universities for Researchin Astronomy Observatory, which operates in the ElquiValley of northern Chile and the Cosmic Campground, asite located in the Gila National Forest of western NewMexico.
The hazards of light pollution are slowly starting to betaken seriously by scientists, the study says.
There are ways to combat the haze of artificial lightfrom overtaking our night skies. Researchers suggest communities experiment with newtechnology that limits the spread of light pollution, use minimum light for tasks, encourage thepractice of shutting lights off when areas are not being used and limit the use of “blue” lightswhich can affect circadian rhythms and even vision.
The beauty of a pristine night sky can also influence people, Falchi says.
“I was pushed to study physics, ultimately, by the fact that I had the possibility 30 years ago tosee a fairly good sky where I lived. Now, in the same place, the Milky Way is totally lost,” he says.
Bruce's Blog 