I have been asked to give a talk at a high school in a nearby town, about Light Pollution. This is a definition of the issue: "Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial lighting." This affects me as an amateur astronomer because the excess light reflects up into the night sky, turning a black sky into a medium gray, and thus all the faint galaxies and nebulae are completely obscured by the veil of light. In addition to astronomical light pollution it is also about the loss of the night itself. As humans the night is wired into our DNA. We need the night for so many reasons. I am slowly putting the talk together, and so I have been looking for examples on light pollution in my neighborhood. This is absolutely the worst! At 11 PM the house is completely dark, but the whole section of the neighborhood is illuminated like daylight!
Here is another view. What is the purpose of wasting all this electricity and lighting up a section of a neighborhood? I am so angry about the people who did this. They are certainly taking away the night of their neighbors. If you look to the far right in the center of the photo, you can see what the street should look like. In some communities there are laws against "Light Trespass" which involves light that spills off one property to the property of others. This has to be the worst case here in Sea Cliff.
2 comments:
Wow! This is so absurd that the lights are still on so late at night. They are extremely bright! I hope that someone can record your presentation so that we can learn from your talk...betsey
I have a few solar lights around the garden under the tree near my patio. Should I remove them before Sunday?
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