Global Light Pollution and The End of Days
Forget about global warming, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, Bible codes, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse or gay marriage. Regardless of what many people would have you think, the end of the world will not come from any of those things.
No, the end of the world will come when we are all reduced to walking zombies because our diurnal sleep cycles have all been thrown off by a continuous day, a day that never ends, created by our light pollution.
Like deer caught in the headlights of our own making, some cosmic truck will come and smash us to bits before we even know what hit us.
Look at what we are doing to ourselves:
Image Credit: NASA’s Visible Earth
More and more of the Earth is being covered by a veil of light that is cutting us off from the universe. There is a shockingly small percentage of places you can go now to see a completely dark sky, free from the glow of nearby cities.
There is a stark division marked by the Mississippi River in the U.S. where, to the east, there is no chance of getting a dark sky. To the west, well, there’s a couple of dark spots, but not many (mostly in Utah and, well, let’s just say we should be thankful there aren’t many lights there). As someone who lives west of that line, I can tell you there are precious few places I can go to see dark skies.
Europe is hopeless too. The countries there are blanketed in light, they haven’t seen a truly dark sky in decades. Same for Japan and India.
Right now, the best places to view the heavens are the middle of the oceans, Antarctica, Greenland, most of Africa, Siberia (yikes), much of central Australia, the Amazon, and portions of central Asia.
Why is this so important? Why do I think this marks the beginning of The End of Days?
Technorati Tags: light pollution, SciHealth Theme Day, the end of the world
Because we’re slowly killing ourselves; we are losing our connection to the universe. I feel that our bond to the stars partially define our humanity. It is important that we can look up and see what’s up there; by doing so we rejuvenate ourselves, recharge our spriit.
We’ve been doing that since we were monkeys, our brains, our biology are tuned to the heavens. Just as we need oxygen to breathe and water to drink, we need to be able to see and experience the motions and grandeur of the skies. Without them, we are living in a light cage, imprisoned and isolated from our natural habitat: the cosmos.
The next time you’re out driving in your car at night, take a moment to look at the car dealership’s parking lot, the football stadium, the downtown skyscrapers. Take note if your neighbors leave their porch light blazing all night long. Really stop and notice what your town looks like at night, I think you’d be shocked at just how much light we are throwing up into the sky.
Then, try to find some constellations while standing in the movie theatre parking lot or even your own front yard. Can you see the Big Dipper? Orion? What about Draco? Cassiopeia?
If you’ve never seen a truly dark sky so full of stars that they seem to cast shadows, then it’s easy to think it’s no big deal. If this is the case for you, then you’re already on your way to becoming a walking zombie.
Standing under a blanket of stars so bright I was sure I could feel their heat on my face as I looked up is the closest I’ve ever come to a religious experience. The intimacy of that connection, of me and the universe, was an affirmation of my humanity, of my place in the cosmos. Without it, something crucial and fundamental is lost in all of us.
Without it, we are doomed as a species.
Don’t be the proverbial deer, lookout for that truck, turn off a f%&king light.
At least there is still some of the Texas Hill Country that’s plenty dark!
This problem will continue as long as people are afraid of the dark. When I was a kid, a neighbor put up a streetlight. When asked why, they said it’ll scare away burglars. That’s the reason I always hear, but when you ask a burglar, they’ll usually say the light helps them see what they’re breaking into…
I actually think this is a beautiful picture.
So many photons…
It is almost like a reversed picture to me. As a kid, living in the country, (in europe), I could see many constellations, the Milky Way, and almost as many stars in the sky as there are dots of light in this pic.
I haven’t seen that sky in almost 15 years now and I miss it. And now they have installed those street lights that can guide a space shuttle, it really is the end of those days. Meh !
I was in the Philippines last month and one night while looking up at the sky realized something I haven’t seen in a long time in Maryland. STARS! and plenty of them. The heavens opened and left me in awe.
@Dave: That is an excellent point and one I’ve been meaning to blog about for a while now. It is a myth that more light equals more security, in fact, there is evidence to the contrary, just as you pointed out. More light actually aids criminals in committing their crimes. I’ll be posting on that in the future.
As for being afraid if the dark, that too, is a point well taken. We haven’t evolved pasts some basic fears it seems.
@Frederica: It is a beautiful picture, one of my favorites actually. I have a framed copy of the poster in my office and I look at it all the time. It is also a source of dismay though when I think about it in terms of light pollution.
@Grace: It is amazing isn’t it? Like I said, seeing a sky so full of stars I can barely make out constellations is the closest I’ve ever come to a religious experience.
A few years back the librarian at my library went to Isreal and was traveling with friends and ended up in the sticks but stopped and got to see the milky way like she had not seen it before.
Folks, Light at night, causing the 24 hour day, is killing off Life On Earth? It has already destroyed the nocturnal habitat of bats and sucked their insect prey from them like a vacuum cleaner. Bats are in decline and so too are whip-poor-wills and night jars.You can learn more at http://www.lightpollution.org.uk If you choose to believe otherwise then by the time you wake up it will be JTL – Just Too Late.
Light pollution is ignored at our peril. Two thirds of all energy is wasted, a substantial proportion of which goes on lighting. Our cities have been cooking the atmosphere for decades, every night, three hundred and sixty five nights a year. This was bound to have serious envronmental and ecological effects, and this has now well established. This problem needs to be redressed urgently. Those who believe that global warming is a con and who think they have a right to light up everything have a lot to answer for. If they can’t see at night, they should use a torch. Local authorities are not under any obligation to provide people with lighting. A universal culture change is required in our attitudes. Exterior lighting should only be used sparingly, on a needs must basis, where needed, when needed, and in the correct amounts. Otherwise the environment will pay us back with our own coin and with compounded interrest. It is not just astronomy that is at stake, but the whole planet. We will find out soon enough if we do nothing.