Light pollution: Night being lost in many countries

[Gerald]

A study of pictures of Earth by night has revealed that artificial light is growing brighter and more extensive every year.
Between 2012 and 2016, the planet's artificially lit outdoor area grew by more than 2% per year.
Scientists say a "loss of night" in many countries is having negative consequences for "flora, fauna, and human well-being".
A team published the findings in the journal Science Advances.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42059551

I can think of the light, when driving.

[GoldenRivet]

In my travels i have seen much of the US. I recall being deployed to work after hurricane Irene and Sandy in the Newark area of New Jersey. After spending a couple of months there i didnt give the sky much thought. But... after being released from the project and making the drive back to Texas, i was eager to get home. I left Jersey in the mid afternoon, and made central Tennessee after dark.

i was awestruck at the millions of stars in the sky. i remember thinking "WOW! its been months since i have seen actual stars in the sky!"

i consider myself fortunate to live where i do, in a small rural Texas town... on a good, still, clear night the stars dominate the sky. venture out to west Texas and you can see the band of the milky way with the naked eye I'm told.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

In my travels i have seen much of the US. I recall being deployed to work after hurricane Irene and Sandy in the Newark area of New Jersey. After spending a couple of months there i didnt give the sky much thought. But... after being released from the project and making the drive back to Texas, i was eager to get home. I left Jersey in the mid afternoon, and made central Tennessee after dark.

i was awestruck at the millions of stars in the sky. i remember thinking "WOW! its been months since i have seen actual stars in the sky!"

i consider myself fortunate to live where i do, in a small rural Texas town... on a good, still, clear night the stars dominate the sky. venture out to west Texas and you can see the band of the milky way with the naked eye I'm told.

Do you remember for several years, when I asked about airfields, in northern Texas, there were amazing views.

[Sean C]

http://www.darksky.org/

[vienna]

The most spectacular nighttime sky I ever saw was in 1965 during a summer spent in Central America; we were way up in the mountains, in a village where the electrical power cut off at around 9:00 pm and the whole area went dark, except for a dim light bulb at the Guardia Nacional checkpoint at the village entrance. I had never seen a sky so filled with stars; there were even several 'shooting stars' observed; truly magnificent...

The most disturbing nighttime sky I saw was in 1994, the morning of the Northridge Earthquake; the quake struck at about 4:30 am, and it knocked out all the power in the greater Los Angeles area; t was still very, very dark and the sky was filled with stars that would ordinarily be hidden by the overwhelming canopy of city lights; it was startling and I recall trying to help one very frightened woman evacuate our building and she was almost hysterical; she looked up, saw the multitude of stars, and asked me, in a trembling voice, "Why are there so many stars? Is this the end of the world?". I assured here it wasn't, but my assurances weren't helped by the sporadic explosions of transformers on light poles, damaged by the quake, and the cacophony of all the car alarms in the area going off simultaneously...







<O>

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel B.

http://www.darksky.org/

Nice.

[Gerald]

[ikalugin]

The oldest Russian observatory is getting closed due to the local light polution.