Madrid, Aug 13 (EFE).- Eighty-five percent of the world’s inhabitants live under skies affected by light pollution, an environmental problem that, in addition to preventing millions of people from gazing at the stars, has serious consequences for ecosystems, health and astronomical observation.
“We associate lighting with progress, modernity and beauty, but we have to start to understand that artificial light at night is also a polluting agent and causes an environmental problem with important consequences,” said Alicia Pelegrina, the promoter of the Sky Quality Office of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) in an interview with EFE.
Light pollution can be of various types: we speak of ‘light intrusion’, when light invades areas where there should be darkness, “for example, the light from a street lamp flooding our bedroom at 3 in the morning”, or ‘glare’, “when poorly oriented lights go directly to our eyes, such as lights from roads or monuments,” he said.
But the most well-known aspect of this type of pollution is ‘artificial brightness’ or ‘skyglow’, which prevents us from seeing the starry skies and hinders scientific astronomical observation.
This glow is the result of the behavior of light in the atmosphere, explained the researcher and doctor in Environmental Sciences.
Light is an electromagnetic wave that travels at high speed and has an enormous capacity for dispersion: “Photons of light behave like the ball in a pinball machine, they collide with all atmospheric particles and when they interact with them they invade the entire air mass of the atmosphere. No other pollutant has this capacity for dispersion,” he warned.
This is why there are protected natural areas that do not have local populations or urban centres nearby and yet are affected by light pollution. Pollution reaches up to 300 kilometres away.
A fight for everyone
To combat this, Pelegrina believes that the first step is to change social perception: “we have to begin to understand that artificial light is a polluting agent” and make more responsible and rational use of it.
Administrations should prioritise orange LED lamps over incandescent or white light, and achieve more rational public lighting with lamps that shine towards the ground or are switched on by motion sensors… “and, why not, consider whether it is really necessary to illuminate a monument or an advertising poster at 2 in the morning.”
Some administrations, such as that of the Spanish Atlantic archipelago of the Canary Islands – a pioneer in the development of regulations for an autonomous law to protect the quality of the sky – are aware of the problem and are already doing so, but ending this pollution is everyone’s task, said Pelegrina, “of the administrations, industry, society and science.”
The most affected areas
This pollution has serious effects on ecosystems. A well-documented example is that of the shearwaters, migratory birds that breed on the Spanish Balearic and Canary Islands, which are dying en masse because they only access their nests at night. “When the chicks start to fly, the light of the cities confuses them, they fly towards them where they collide with buildings or are run over.”
But without a doubt, the most affected by light pollution are insects, which are mostly nocturnal and need darkness to carry out their basic functions (reproduce, feed or move). “Light pollution has a devastating effect on them,” said Pelegrina.
Their disappearance is alarming because they pollinate 70% of crops and 80% of flowering plants, meaning that “they are not only essential for the entire food chain but also for our food.”
Light pollution also affects humans by interfering with the biological clock, whose rhythm is regulated by the alternation between day and night.
“When this alternation does not occur, our body suffers chronodisruption, which is related to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, sleep disorders, premature aging and cancer.”
In addition, at night the body secretes melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep, is an antioxidant and inhibits the growth of cancer cells.
“If our eyes perceive light, melatonin production stops, which increases the risk of cancer, atherosclerosis, hypertension and other debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.”
But there are two other major victims: science, because astronomical observation is severely affected, and cultural heritage, because the fact that “85% of the planet’s inhabitants cannot see stars is chilling,” but also “we are preventing future generations from being able to contemplate something as beautiful as a starry sky.”
Madrid, the European city that pollutes the most
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 99% of people in the United States and Europe live under polluted skies, a problem that is growing at a rate of 2% per year.
According to a report by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), light pollution has increased by 50% in the last 25 years.
The most polluted continent is Europe, with Madrid, Paris and Milan at the top. Furthermore, among European countries, Spain occupies third position, with a bronze medal, behind Greece and Malta.
“But we take the gold in terms of expenditure per inhabitant on public lighting, where the consumption of each inhabitant is 116 kW hour, compared to countries such as Germany (43 kW/h) or France (91 kW/h),” concludes Pelegrina.
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2024-08-13 19:42:04
