This is a map of Light Pollution in the United States, the brighter areas represent polluted areas with corresponding colors representing levels of light pollution while the black areas represent places with little to no light pollution.
I find this map interesting because it helps point out many areas of interest such as human impact on the environment, technological development, urbanization and suburbanization and population growth. For example if you were to compare the light pollution being emitted from major cities such as New York in 1997 to light pollution that's expected in 2025 you will notice almost all major urban centers are colored white or pink on this map meaning that the brightness level is 27-243 times the natural level making almost all stars in the sky invisible. Furthermore Most people in the United States live in either the orange, red, or white and pink areas meaning at the very least the majority of Americans cannot see the Milky Way and at worse (such as in urban areas) people won't be able to see practically anything of interest. This is particularly alarming because for thousands of years we've been able to look up at the night sky and see the beauty of the universe, behold constellations and even our own galaxy which has helped ground us as both a species and individually. It also has negative health affects on humans, as light pollution can disrupt our circadian rhythm. It's truly one of the saddest consequences of the development of human cities and technology and unfortunately the problem is only getting worse year by year. If you want to explore light pollution around the world here's a couple of websites with interactive maps:
1 comment:
This is quite fascinating but also quite sad. I looked at the maps you linked and it looks like this is a problem throughout the globe and not just the United States. According to an article I found (https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/light-pollution/), light pollution also affects animals other than humans, which is worth noting.
I wonder why cities have continued to develop the way they are when it has negative effects for the environment. Are these effects not well-known? Or do the people in charge of urban development simply not care, or have they decided that the environmental cost is worth the benefit? Whatever the cause is, I hope society can get to a point where the situation is improving instead of getting worse each year.
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