Our Vanishing Night Sky

Ian Cheney, the filmmaker of The City Dark, explains how after he moved from the rural area of New England to New York City, he felt like he “was at the center of the world” but that he had “left something important behind, something [he] couldn’t name.” He also wonders, “What do we lose when we lose the night?” (City Dark).  Ian is saying, if we don’t try to help preserve the night sky, we will lose our clear view of the wonders it holds. Everyone who is in fear of losing the night sky can see how it is important to make wise choices about outdoor lighting, and that together we can work to restore the night sky to its former glory.

Chad Moore, of the National Parks Service, reminds us, “When we add light to the environment, that has the potential to disrupt habitat, just like running a bulldozer over the landscape can. Darkness is a necessary habitat for nocturnal animals, so what’s the habitat for people?” (qtd. In City Dark). Chad is simply explaining that life on Earth has existed with a regular and dependable day and night schedule to the illumination levels in the environment. This regularity has become ingrained into the DNA of species up and down the evolutionary tree. It regularizes basic and fundamental biological activities across species from plants and to even us, humans. It is the height of apathetic ignorance and insanity that we expect other living organisms on this planet to just "adapt" to newly created lighting schedules of our convenience. The effects of light pollution on plants and animals in the environment are numerous, and are becoming more known. By watching the film, it simply reminds us as humans, how big of an impact light pollution has on the birds and newly born turtles. Birds use the bright stars in the sky to determine the route for the next day, and when the city lights interfere with their view, birds can become confused and disoriented. Unfortunately, light pollution also causes some birds to give in to deadly collisions with buildings and other objects in the sky that may be difficult to see when "blinded by the light".  Similarly, light pollution is at the heart of the decline of sea turtles. It impacts their nesting habits and the ability of young hatchlings to survive, as seen in the film. I recently became educated on how it has been said that by working graveyard shifts under fluorescent lights, disturbing the daily rhythmic flow, increases the risk of developing cancer. So these are prime examples why we need to protect the night sky from having a negative impact on the animals and even ourselves.

We rarely stop to think that the night is necessary and good for life. Therefore, we do not realize that protecting the night sky is a valuable step to conserving bio-diversity. Most people think that as we sleep at night, the rest of the species do the same, it is of no concern if we send out a light into the night time environment. However, our action of light pollution alters and interferes with nocturnal species that begin their daily activities at sundown and can also interfere with ours.