The Madman And Light Pollution

As we sat on the dock waiting for the Space Station to appear, the madman scanned the night sky. “I can only see five stars in the Little Dipper,” he said. “The Big Dipper is pretty faint, and if I didn’t know where the Milky Way was, I think I’d miss that too.” Lately it feels like night is disappearing because of all the light pollution.

We can both remember sitting on the same dock not so long ago counting all the stars in the Little Dipper. That was before everyone felt the need to light up the night. It seems their motto was the bigger, the brighter, the better. Some of these lights come on whether someone’s home or not. And they seriously disrupt the madman’s stargazing. But that’s not all they disrupt.

Night and Day

For countless years our planet’s inhabitants have lived with a day followed by night schedule. The schedule changes with the season, but day has always started with sunrise and ended with sunset. The brightest nights occurred around the full moon. And that followed its own predictable schedule.

This state of affairs continued until the mid-1800s. Then, changes began to occur – slowly at first, as man began to harness electricity. Thanks to artificial light, people could read, learn and work at night. But, before long, man learned he could also light the outdoors at night – the beginning of Light Pollution.

Light Polluted Skies

By 2016, with the help of satellites, scientists discovered that over 80% of the world’s population lived under a light polluted sky. And, in the United States, 99% of us live with light pollution. What is light pollution? Artificial light that produces enough glare to make stars disappear. The madman says, “Remember there are seven stars in the Little Dipper, not just five.” Many of us are lucky to see five.

Although the madman stargazes for fun, light pollution can mean life or death for countless animals who rely on the dark. Over time, animals, birds and insects have learned to live with skies no brighter than the full moon. But the introduction of artificial light has created hardship in their environment.

It Affects Monarchs, Too

As you all know, the madman and I like the Monarch butterfly. Our yard is a Certified Monarch Waystation. Even the Monarch, a daytime creature, feels the effects of light pollution. During its migration, the butterfly travels many miles in a day. When darkness falls, it needs to roost in order to rest up for the next day’s flight. But, observers note that lights at night disrupt these butterflies’ rest patterns, often causing them to move when they should rest. In the morning, they seem disoriented from their migration route.

Migrating songbirds who usually travel at night often fare no better. Observers see these birds flying around brightly lit buildings in search of the correct migration path. We can only imagine the number of migrators who are thrown off course.

Fireflies And Bats

Nocturnal species are in the same boat. When was the last time you sat in the dark watching fireflies? In fact, have your kids or grandkids ever seen the backyard aglow with their flashing lights? We know now that those flashes are mating signals. And with artificial lighting, mating rituals are disrupted or seriously curtailed resulting in fewer fireflies.

Even the Little Brown Bat, a species on Connecticut’s endangered lists, has trouble with artificial lights. These bats normally leave their roosts as dusk falls – when the insects they eat are most active. But, bright artificial light keeps them in longer so they miss many good meals. Even after darkness falls, bright lights can create large corridors they avoid for fear of being seen by predators like owls.

Light Corridors

These corridors are also avoided by other nocturnal land species. There’s no place to hide for both prey and predator. In California, studies have shown that the range of Mountain Lions is constricted by bright lights. A smaller range means less diversification in the gene pool – never a good thing for an ongoing population.

We could go on all day citing more examples of this problem. Even humans are experiencing disrupted circadian rhythms thanks to light being everywhere. Wildlife experts are just beginning to realize how extreme the issue is. But it is a problem we can all do something about.

According to the International Dark Skies Association, no artificial light is wildlife friendly. But, good news, as soon as lights are removed species come back, sometimes it takes a while but come back they do. Even the madman agrees that we can’t go back to the days of totally dark skies. Our goal should be to reduce the impact of artificial light as much as we can.

What Can We Do?

Scientists are busy studying the issue. Hardcore environmentalists insist that no artificial light can be wildlife friendly, but as the madman has already said, “This will never work.” There are times when we do need to see at night. But all of us can help cut down on light pollution by using outdoor light intelligently.

Start low. Keep lights low to the ground and use low-wattage bulbs. Believe it or not, this will make a huge difference. Go a step farther. Put your outdoor lights on a timer. No need to light your yard at 3 a.m. – the raccoons who come to raid your trash cans can see just fine without it. Another way of helping is to use motion sensors – a quick flash of light may startle Rocky and his buddies and send them scurrying off. Then the dark returns.

Use Shields

Speaking of dark, research shows that 75% of light pollution comes from light escaping from fixtures. Using shields to direct light downward would make the madman happy as he’s looking for the seventh star in the Little Dipper. It will also make your local wildlife quite happy.

Now that you have finished reading this, consider going outside tonight to do an inventory of your outdoor lighting. Hopefully you will find that you can make a few changes that will help reduce your effect on nature. Need another incentive? Consider the cost of electricity – it is estimated that stray light costs the economy over $2 billion each year. James Madison University has a great article on artificial light pollution – read it if you don’t believe the madman.

In the meantime, we’re heading out with a glass of lemonade to enjoy our garden in daylight.