Before the mass adoption of artificial light, humans spent thousands of years looking up at the night sky and saw the Milky Way stretched above them as a permanent fixture of the night.
Because of light pollution, the Milky Way is hidden for 80 per cent of North Americans, according to a landmark global study published in the journal Science Advances. I believe that the view of the Milky Way is one of the most spectacular sights we can see. Municipal governments should take practical steps to reduce light pollution so we can all enjoy what was once the baseline night sky.
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Uthayan Thurairajah, a senior electrical project manager for WSP, a global engineering and professional services firm, and an advocate for DarkSky International, said that there are four components to light pollution; sky glow, trespass lighting, glare, and over lighting.
Thurairajah said sky glow is when light gets reflected onto the ground then back in the sky and creates a dome of light that restricts visibility. He said it plays the biggest role in people being able to stargaze and wildlife.
Sky glow can have ecological effects on both animals and humans. Thurairajah said animals' productivity, sleep patterns, and even hibernation can be affected by light pollution.
“Especially in the City of Toronto, there are thousands of birds that are killed by light pollution at night,” he said.
Birds are most affected by light pollution with an estimated 25 million to 42 million deaths a year in Canada, according to FLAP Canada. The main cause of death for the birds are collisions.
Light pollution also wastes an absurd amount of energy. Around $45 to $100 million per year is wasted on over lighting, according to EcoFriendly Sask, a Saskatchewan-based environmental advocacy group.
That’s enough money to pay the electricity bills for more than 60,000 Canadian households, or put 1,500 teachers in classrooms. I think municipal governments need to realize that there are resources being wasted for no reason, and the wasted money could serve communities in more beneficial ways.
The main argument against enacting reduced light pollution policies is that there could be a rise in crime, and public safety concerns.
Thurairjah said that vulnerable people might feel less safe in darker areas, but that danger occurs in lit areas as well.
“Because the light is there, they feel psychologically safe. It’s very debatable. You can’t say because the light is there, it's a safe place. It depends on the location, where crime is happening,” he said.
I think that people often assume that the roads and sidewalks will be pitch black, and every single light will be off. That's not the case. Streetlights can have motion sensors, or they can even reduce their brightness during the night. One of the cheapest fixes is placing plastic shields on the top of streetlights to make sure light is directed downward. Light pollution advocates are not advocating for pitch-black nights, but smarter lights.
Every year we hesitate to enact smarter light policies so we waste nearly $100 million and hundreds of millions of birds' lives. But correcting this does not mean we have to make our communities unsafe. If we make simple fixes, we can pull the urban lighting down and allow future generations to be in awe of the Milky Way.
