Light pollution (LP) means we see fewer stars - we're losing the faintest star of the Southern Cross. Citysiders are denied what country people take for granted. The National Trust of Australia NSW classified the day and night sky as a heritage item - announced at the 150th birthday of Sydney Observatory. Some seek to recognise Chile's night sky as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Light affects our sleep, and can cause headaches other health problems. Sunlight gives us vitamin D; we need both dark and light. Darkness means we make melatonin; less melatonin and related hormones have been linked to breast and colo-rectal cancer. Industrialised countries have a rate of breast cancer five times greater than less developed countries. Night shift workers have a 30-60% greater prevalence.
But it's not just distributed light - residents at Ian Bruce's block in Sydney can't open their windows out night without being flooded with light from nearby billboards. Ian's had a protracted battle with Sydney Council, partly because councils changed along the way. Quite apart from a lethargic council, it shows how badly advertising is regulated.
LP affects animals - migrating birds collide with buildings and turtle hatchlings go towards the shore. In Australia, lights interfere with the bogong moth's flight, and the Mountain Pygmy Possum has less of them to eat. Then there's nocturnal animals in city bushland corridors.
The skyglow makes stars harder to see. See the graph below (from original calculations by Melbourne LP activist Dr Barry Clark). Higher magnitude stars are dimmer - with increasing light pollution, you can only see brighter (lower magnitude) stars.
But light escaping from the earth doesn't brighten the sky - it's the light reflected back by particles and the air itself. Clouds make it even worse. Member Ken Cooke tells me he can "read the paper at night when it's cloudy". The stars aren't visible - but health and wildlife are still affected.
Free market proponents claim increased wealth means less pollution. Yes, air pollution and photochemical smog have declined. The Man did something right - credit where its due. But we do not escape light pollution with increasing wealth - economic growth has its costs.
Shopping centres tend to have wasteful can have very wasteful light - see Ken Cooke's photos of Strathfield Plaza. It seems every architect wants to light up their building like a Christmas tree. No-one else has thought of that? "Innovation Place" in Sydney is is supposedly a "green" building, and is way overlit. Green? Eh?
This contrasts with the Sydney Queen Victoria Building. Regardless of light pollution, subtle lighting develops contrasts and enhances its majestic structure. Some buildings get it right. It would be even better if office buildings turned their lights off at night.
Dr. Nick Lomb, Curator of Astronomer at Sydney Observatory and SOLIS member says "People aren't taking care with lighting of buildings and structures. If the light is directed downwards to where it is needed, everyone wins". Billboards are a major source of LP. Lit from below, they spray light straight into the sky. They're lit from above around the airport - why can't they all be that way? I see billboard advertising as wasteful, more manipulative than informational - and perhaps a safety hazard to boot.
Certainly, Dr. Lomb sees problems with shore lighting : "This is a risk factor in nighttime maritime accidents - there's been a recent increase - bright lights on the shore reduce visibility and in particular the contrast of navigation lights."
Security? Yes, people need to get around. But we need only the equivalent of a moonlit night. Too much light creates shadows to hide in - which you could otherwise see into. Light means you can see the criminal - but they can, too. Turning lights off can even reduce vandalism. Of course, if you need to walk through, you need enough light to see where you are going. Crime is frequently opportunistic and brief. It's not enough to be potentially visible - the crime itself must be seen. Further, lighting doesn't eliminate crime - it just moves it around.
In Melbourne, Barry Clark estimates 4 million dollars has been spent on "improvements" - stations are like daytime. But according to The Age, crime has increased - no figures show a reduction. In the nightclub precinct, assaults increased from 308 to 2064 in the last financial year; robberies from 117 to 414. Murders and sexual assaults increased by 5 to 15 and 117 to 414 respectively.
An Institute of Criminology Professor said something like: "everyone knows that crime happens at night when it's dark so why not light up the area? ". Well ... if there was a reduction - other effects seem to overwhelm it, suggesting we should focus elsewhere to reduce crime. And the improved lighting might even create increased crime.
We'll leave the closing words to Dr. Lomb : "Light Pollution Control is the official policy of the Victorian ALP, but there's been no worthwhile legislation. Neither the Government nor EPA are concerned about Light pollution - it would be great if they took it on like noise and other pollution. It's difficult to contain it through our own piecemeal action. It's hardly what the night sky deserves."
Top picture of Sydney Harbour Bridge by Ken Cooke. To visit the SOLIS website click View button below.