In this article, we will discuss about the What is Light Pollution? How does light pollution affects the environment? Light pollution effects on humans? Causes of Light pollution etc. So, let's start with one by one point clearly.
The question arises with us again and again is - What is Light Pollution? Light pollution, which is also called as Photo pollution that is produced by highly artificial light and is a byproduct of urbanization and industrialization. It is only the one of several kinds of pollution on the our earth along with Plastic waste, Greenhouse gases and Sewage.
How does light pollution affects the environment?
Light pollution with effective result or effects for our environment and also on our living organisms health. As per the International Dark-Sky Association, , Domestic and Commercial lighting, and Security lights, Street lighting, vehicles, whole interfere to the production of a dome-like shield of light pollution called as skyglow.
Light pollution may contains Glare, Light trespass, and Clutter, in addition to skyglow. Light trespass is light which coming from sources such as bedroom windows, whereas glare is light that can produces direct visual discomfort. Clutter is known as the excessive grouping of lights.
Another kinds of air pollution, such as Smoke and Dust, can also increases light pollution. This is because of the fact that these types of pollution can scatter light in all directions, brightening the sky even more.
As per the Celestron, one of the serious aspect of light pollution on our environment is that it unclear or unstable our view of the true night sky. The night sky is full with celestial bodies, distant galaxies, and constellations once there is no artificial light weight gift present. Several of those night sky objects, however, would be unseen if looked from the center of a main town.
Now, According to Duke University, the retina of the human eye can environmentally adjust its light-sensing cells to adjusted to very minimum-light situations, allowing few sort of night vision.
The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale was growed by American astronomer John E. Bortle to maintaining and characterize light pollution. It determines the brightness of the night sky at different places. The scale assesses our capacity to look celestial objects for example - planets and stars through the interference of skyglow.
Causes of Light Pollution:
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| Causes of light pollution |
There are many causes of Light pollution. Apart from depriving us of a starry sky, excessive use of artificial light has several other effects, such as distrubing the human body's natural cycle.
Circadian rhythms are a set of physiological and neurological changes that exists in the body over the course of a 24-hour period. As per the Harvard University, they are collectively known as our body clock and are associated to our sleep-wake cycle.
When the sun goes down and we are not protected from minimum light, our bodies naturally free a hormone called as melatonin. According to the UK's National Sleep Foundation, Melatonin is free from the pineal gland in the brain and supportd to enhance tiredness and activate sleep cycles, with peak production existing in the early hours of the morning.
Light pollution, on the another side, has been shown to suppress melatonin production in humans, even at minimum levels. This can produce sleep distrubs, and also negative affects on our immune process and stress responses.
As per the journal environmental journal Health Perspectives, it has also been proposed that melatonin disruption produced by light pollution is related to an enhanced harmful action of hormone-based cancers such as breast or prostate cancer.
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| Light Pollution |
The circadian rhythm impacts all living organisms, not just on humans. According to the journal Environmental Pollution, Scientists studied that even the fewest light intensities distrubs melatonin production within the European perch.
Along with health concerns, light pollution can have an affects on wildlife lives also. Light pollution has the more effects on nocturnal predators such as bats. These flying mammals are well modify to hunting at night and assiduously preventing areas that are brightened.