Light Pollution

environment · night sky · ecosystems · human impact

Messes with nature's schedule. Animals like birds, insects, and sea turtles rely on natural darkness to know when to sleep, hunt, or migrate. Artificial lights confuse them and can make their daily routines go haywire.

Steals the stars. Skyglow is when city lights scatter up into the sky and wash out the stars we should be able to see. In big cities, you might only see a few dozen stars instead of thousands.

Different types of light problems. Light pollution comes in several forms: light trespass is when a neighbor's porch light shines in your window, glare is harsh brightness that hurts your eyes, and over-illumination is simply using way more light than you actually need.

Disrupts animal behavior. Birds get confused by bright buildings during migration and fly into them by accident. Sea turtle hatchlings that should head toward the ocean get drawn toward city lights instead and get lost.

Wastes energy and money. Most light pollution comes from unnecessary or poorly designed outdoor lighting, which means communities spend money on electricity that doesn't help anyone and just lights up the sky.