Light

Introduction

Light is far more important for life on Earth than most people realize. The amount of light, how long it lasts, and even experiencing light at unnatural hours (thanks to modern technology) can have increadible rammifications for species up and down the food chain, including humans.

Benefits of Light

Carbon Cycle & Plant Growth

Safety

Properly used and installed lights can make a space safer. You want to drive with reasonably bright lights (not blinding as this increases the risk of deadly accidents) for driving, and lights set to timers or motion detectors can both save energy while providing light when it is needed most.

Improperly implemented light causes temporary blindness and can even help people hide in shadows. Light pollution creates more emissions, while causing a wide number of problems from ecological imbalance, sleepless nights, and even health consequences such as obesity and cancer.

Solutions

Make sure that outdoor lighting used colors that interfere less with wildlife such as lights with a red or yellow tint. Light orientation/placement is important too. Shielded lights that face down, whether on billboards or meant for human safety. Other features like solar powered motion detectors can help prevent energy waste and unneeded light pollution, but may startle wild animals if they accidentally trigger the motion detector.


Curtains and blinds on windows can help reduce light pollution from inside, as well as turning off indoor lights when no one is using those rooms.

Stadiums and other buildings/organizations that use flood lights, or shoot lasers into the sky can disorient migratory birds, causing them to have serious accidents or get lost. They also cause enough pollution so that surrounding communities are unable to enjoy basic natural resources like darkness (which helps us get enough sleep) and the ability to see stars. Since this isn't always something we can control, consider joining the Lights Out initiatives that are becoming more popular as awareness about this problem grows. - https://www.audubon.org/lights-out-program (maybe link this to the words Lights out, or have it as a separate image/box thing)

Contribute to Lights Out (ideas from the The Audubon Society)

It is also worth taking into consideration that technology such as electric Christmas decorations are very new inventions with high environmental cost, and poor recycling infrastructure, if any exists to help deal with the waste they produce. Timers can reduce their impact, by having the lights only active during times of high traffic, then turning off automatically between 11pm and 6 am when few if any people may be around to enjoy them.

Examples of Success!

"April 12, 2021 -- Mayor Sylvester Turner has proclaimed April 19 - May 7, 2021 “Lights Out Nights” in Houston, encouraging all businesses, residents, and building managers to turn off non-essential exterior lighting from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. during the period of peak migration for birds through Texas."

"An estimat0ed two billion birds migrate through the state of Texas each year, around one quarter to one-third of all birds migrating throughout the United States. Most North American migratory birds travel at night, and lights on buildings can attract and disorient these birds, resulting in fatal collisions with buildings."0

"Houston and the Upper Texas Coast play a key role on the Central Flyway, an important migratory path for birds. Birds that move along and across the Gulf of Mexico depend on safe passage through the Houston-Galveston area. In a 2019 study, though, Houston was found to be the second most dangerous city in the country for migrating birds in terms of exposure to light pollution due to the intersection of its high light output and the vast numbers of migratory birds that pass over the city." https://www.perotmuseum.org/

The Mayor's Office Press Release also made sure to mention the organizations including people like you who helped bring this program into action :

"The Lights Out Texas initiative is possible thanks to a partnership led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/), Houston Audubon (https://houstonaudubon.org/), Texas Conservation Alliance (https://www.tcatexas.org/), Dallas Zoo, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science (https://www.perotmuseum.org/), Texan by Nature (https://texanbynature.org/our-programs/), and many others"

The Dallas Zoo has two wildlife programs. One in which they "partner with conservation organizations around the world, to directly support efforts to save animals and ecosystems from extinction."(https://www.dallaszoo.com/protecting-the-twelve/). The other, they Offer conservation expeditions ranging from saving sea turtles and restoring sea turtle habitat on South Padre Island in South Padre, to saving bats in Bracken Cave.(https://www.dallaszoo.com/save-wildlife/conservation-trips/) )

Thanks to the Earth Hour campaign's 13th edition had "The Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge... plunged into darkness for an hour Saturday to raise awareness about climate change and its impact on the planet's vanishing biodiversity." 

The same article

 notes that "Paris's Eiffel Tower, New York's Empire State Building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa and the Acropolis in Athens are among the 24 global landmarks that will take part in Earth Hour."

Resources

Sun Exposure Calculators & Charts

Organizations

For organizations that focus on light pollution, check out our Light Pollution page.

If there are none near you, why not start one yourself? Sometimes all it takes is a friendly e-mail or call to the right person!