The night sky is painted with countless stars and streaks of light, a display that has inspired storytellers and guided navigators since the days before our earliest history. Every civilization has looked to the night skies to craft stories from the constellations and seek guidance beyond simple directions. These historic interactions are an important part of our cultural development and growth as a species.
A recent study from the University of Toledo suggests that blue light from digital devices as well as the sun transform vital molecules in the sun’s retina into cell killers, according to phys.org.
Harmful blue light is not just a threat to light pollution and sleeping habits. New safety guidelines from the American Petroleum Institute (API) suggests that light sources that disrupt circadian rhythms should be minimized.
“Blue light” refers to a specific wavelength within the spectrum of visible light that appears blue or violet. Compared to other colors like red, orange, and yellow, blue light has a much shorter wavelength, meaning it produces higher amounts of energy.
When baby sea turtles hatch, their first instinct is to head toward the moonlight reflecting on the water’s surface — a natural waypoint that leads them to the sea. Hatchlings are drawn to the brightest thing they see, and in developed areas the brightest thing is no longer the moon, but the street and hotel lights.
This disorients the baby turtles and leads many of them away from the ocean, causing dehydration, starvation, and an increased chance of getting eaten.
Ecotourism has become a worldwide traveling phenomenon for those desiring nature sights and experiences, and there is a reason for the rising popularity. Ecotourism pairs global travel and exploration with environmental conservation and protecting indigenous communities, with sustainability at its heart. This article explores a more comprehensive definition of ecotourism and the benefits of its impact on communities and destinations all over the world.
The Dark-Sky Movement is a worldwide campaign to reduce light pollution. The movement's goal is to decrease light pollution in order to preserve the natural night sky.
Since our initial discovery of light pollution, amateur and professional astronomers alike have worked towards protecting the night sky. Faced with the unstoppable expansion of urbanization, astronomers began making efforts to reduce the effects of city lighting and skyglow. Today, the movement is stronger than ever and continues to fight for more responsible lighting practices.
The greatest threat to amateur astronomy today is the unreasonably excessive growth of severe light pollution. Because most cities demand effective lighting above all else, the harmful impacts of such extreme sources of light pollution have been neglected. What’s more unfortunate, we’ve forgotten the beauty and grandeur of the milky way--we’ve become accustomed to the starless sky. The issue has become less noticeable and therefore, less of a priority. For both amateur and professional astronomers, however, the level of modern-day light pollution is intolerable.
What is light? Despite light being so fundamental to everyday life, this can be a surprisingly difficult question to answer. The quick internet search answer is electromagnetic radiation which is measured on an electromagnetic spectrum. To better understand how light and modern LEDs work, one must first understand the electromagnetic spectrum. The overall goal of this article is to explain the nature of the visible light spectrum, and subsequently illustrate the impacts of artificial light.