The night, what we lack in this modern world.

[RangerWickett]

Edit: The original post apparently was too long, and so the text was not showing up. See post 30 and 31 if you want to read it without going to the New Yorker directly.

I lament the lack of dark night skies. Light pollution has removed the beauty of the heavens just as truly as waste and smog has befouled the rivers' flow and the forests' trees. I encourage you all to consider your need of light, and the beauty of darkness. I encourage you to support darker night skies.

This is a long essay, but it reminded me of something I value. From The New Yorker:


By the way, kudos to EN World for having a dark background and light text. We save just a little on electricity every time we load a page, versus if it were black text on a light background.

 

[jaerdaph]

That was a great read - thanks for posting that.

I'm reminded of the blackout of 2003. For the first time in my life that night, I saw stars above the Empire State Building. And for some reason instead of experiencing anxiety and panic, even though our technology had failed us, that made everything seem so peaceful.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

One of the only things I miss about living in Kansas is the night sky. We lived a good distance out from the nearest city, and the big bowl of a sky with real darkness to see the stars...

*sigh*

 

[trancejeremy]

The thing is, though, if you want to see the night sky, all you have to do is move to a place out in the country. At least in the US, there are quite a few places where you can see the stars quite nicely.

However, most people choose not to, because the benefits of a nice night sky are outweighed by the minuses.

 

[RangerWickett]

The point of the article is to inform people that light pollution is bad the same way air, water, and ground pollution is. And, more importantly, it is to let people know that by doing things to reduce light pollution, they'll actually save electricity and make people safer at night. Filling the sky with unneeded light is primitive, and we live in a modern world. We can do things better, and help preserve the world's beauty by doing so.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

The thing is, though, if you want to see the night sky, all you have to do is move to a place out in the country. At least in the US, there are quite a few places where you can see the stars quite nicely.

However, most people choose not to, because the benefits of a nice night sky are outweighed by the minuses.

At which point, when enough people have moved there, they are no longer enjoying a good night sky. And having gone looking for night sky to see a meteor shower in my area, moving that far is not something I would classify as "all you have to do." Sure, all you have to do is quit your job, move someplace you may not be able to find another, uproot your kids from their schools... As opposed to changes in the way we light our cities (such as the lights used in some parts of the big island of Hawaii ) which can bring the night sky back to us, and make choosing a darker area actually as trivial as you are implying.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I remember as a kid the night the city near where I grew up turned on their new lights on the highway. These huge poles, probably 30-40 feet high with 8-10 high intensity lights on each turned night into day at interchanges. Drivers loved it, but I immediately noticed that the night was no longer as dark and I couldn't see the stars the way I could just a week before.

I've never had the problem of a fear of the dark, I rather enjoy it actually. I am all for bringing back the beauty of the night sky.

I think I may have to plan a trip in a few years to experience the Night Sky program with my wife and kids.

 

[Wombat]

Growing up in general suburbia, I knew where the major constellations were, but that was about it.

I still remember, quite vividly, the first time I really saw the Milky Way. I was about eight years old and visiting my aunt and uncle in the Imperial Valley of California. The whole "My god, it's full of stars!" moment blew me away -- looking up into forever, feeling so small, yet so connected.

Since then I have taken multiple camping trips away from the lights simply to stay up at night and see the stars.

And that so, so clear night above the Grand Canyon still takes my breath away.

 

[Dr. Harry]

The thing is, though, if you want to see the night sky, all you have to do is move to a place out in the country. At least in the US, there are quite a few places where you can see the stars quite nicely.

As prevoiusly noted, this assumes that one has an unfettered choice about where to live - something most people don't have.

As has also been noted, better lighting, which preserves the night sky and the local ecology unchanged (I like something more in an area beyond deer, rats, and cockroaches) also has health and safety benefits. A lot of light is actually more dangerous if it increases glare, reduces contrast, and increases the darkness of shadowed areas. All the light that is contaminating the night sky is wasted light/energy/money, as well.

I loved the night sky so much that I went into astronomy, and right now I am fortunate enough to live where there are pretty good night skies, in southeastern Minnesota.

However, most people choose not to, because the benefits of a nice night sky are outweighed by the minuses.

What are the minuses of living with a dark night sky?




As an aside, after the Northridge earthquake (referenced in the article) the night sky was so bright and brilliant that a number of city people who had never seen the sky and Milky Way like that were confused by the difference enough to contact local observatories/planetaria and ask if whatever was making the stars so bright had somehow caused the earthquake.

Here is the website for the Interational Dark Sky Association:

http://www.darksky.org/

 

[Tewligan]

Filling the sky with unneeded light is primitive, and we live in a modern world.

No, primitive is NOT being able to fill the sky with light - it's our mastery of electricity that lets us light up the night. I'd like to see those other animals that think they're so smart try to drown out the stars. In your faces, dolphins and chimpanzees!