One of the crew members aboard the International Space Station photographed this night image of the bright city of Paris, France on
April 7, 2013. Courtesy: NASAby the light pollution. Similarly
the egg-laying in some animals also
shifts earlier due to light pollution
(Cyanistes caeruleus- Eurasian blue
tit - females exposed to street lighting
started egg-laying on average 1.5 days
earlier in the season than females
breeding in dark territories in the
same forest.
Artificial lights disrupt the world’s
ecosystems. Christopher Kyba, a light
pollution research scientists rightly
says “Near cities, cloudy skies are now
hundreds, or even thousands of times
brighter than they were two hundred
years ago. We are only beginning to
learn what a drastic effect this has
had on nocturnal ecology”. In fact,
every year new research adds even
more wildlife to the list of animals
affected by excessive light, including
humming birds, little penguins,
zebra fish, sweet bees, bats, owls,
mice, Atlantic salmon, peahens,
etc. Though scientists are working
extensively on this issue, some of
the practical solutions to reduce the
light pollutions and thus its negative
effects are:
i) Use of complete, upside
shielded fixtures for all lighting,
so that light shine down only, not
up.ii) Use of minimum required
quantity of light and avoid
excessive and wasteful lights.
iii) Arrangement for timers and
dimmer devices to turn off or dim
lights when not in use.
iv) Use of lighting with a colour
temperature of 3000 K and below
i.e., having less blue light that is
more harmful.
v) Plan and working
coordination among of citizen,
local and government agencies to
minimize its harming effects.neScholar 0 vol 4 0 issue 4 47
LIGHT POLLUTION I SCIENCE