As advances in lighting technology have gradually flooded our world with more light, our city nightscapes—and many suburban nightscapes, too—are now dominated by the glow of artificial lighting from buildings, streets, signs, parking lots, and recreational facilities. Artificial lighting is important for safety, security, and navigation, but used excessively or inappropriately, it causes light pollution that has negative effects on humans and the environment. But awareness about light pollution is growing, and there are building products available that are friendlier for our night skies.
Glare, sky glow, light trespass: There are many ways to describe the negative impact of harsh, blue outdoor lighting. The current clutter adversely affects upwards of 80 percent of the world’s population and disrupts wildlife ecosystems. In the United States and Europe, 99 percent of the public can’t experience a natural night. For humans, this disrupts our circadian rhythms and increases risk of sleep disorders, depression, and heart disease. The impact on other species, like birds, can be devastating—causing them to migrate too early or too late and miss ideal climate conditions for nesting, foraging, and other behaviors.
But there are innovative solutions to preserve a healthy dark sky. METROPOLIS rounded up some that have earned the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) seal of approval.