General

Light pollution

In our daily life we are in contact with different types of pollution that affect our quality of life. One of these types is light pollution generated by artificial light, which endangers our ecosystem, affecting not only humans, but also animals and vegetation.  

What is light pollution?

Light pollution is any kind of negative effect on the environment caused by artificial lighting. This type of pollution affects human beings, the fauna and flora of the ecosystem that is exposed to it.

This type of pollution is little known in many countries and for this reason, the planet is now faced with the disastrous consequences it produces.

It can be seen in the increased brightness of the night sky caused by the diffusion and reflection of artificial light, an effect that produces little visibility of the stars and celestial objects.

In industrialized countries, 98 percent of the population is exposed to the effects of light pollution.

Causes of light pollution

The main cause of light pollution is the misuse of artificial light in streetlights, projectors, spotlights, lamps, etc., which let a large part of their luminous flux escape into the sky.

Excessive lighting generates energy and CO2 costs in the ecosystem. This generates pollution and scarcity of energy resources.

Another cause of pollution is the ignorance and lack of awareness of people’s people who do not save energy consumption light and abuse illuminating spaces that are not transited at home or in populated places.

Effects

The effects produced by light pollution affect not only human beings but also the flora and fauna exposed to it.

In the case of humans, it can have the following negative health effects:

In animals and plants produces the following consequences:

In addition to these negative effects, it should be noted that it also affects the astronomical study of the sky, generates many economic costs, climate change and the energy crisis worldwide.

Prevention

In order to prevent light pollution, several awareness campaigns have been generated for the best use of electric light. Some of the most suggested recommendations for the prevention of this type of pollution are:

Types of light pollution

Within the different types of light pollution, we can mention the following:

Examples of light pollution

There are many examples of the presence of light pollution worldwide. As an example, the following cases can be mentioned:

Written by Gabriela Briceño V.
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How to cite this article?

Briceño V., Gabriela. (2019). Light pollution. Recovered on 23 February, 2024, de Euston96: https://www.euston96.com/en/light-pollution/

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