LEDs are contributing to light pollution and erasing our view of stars
Light pollution is a phenomenon where the sky glows at night due to artificial lightning
New research has shown that America's rapid adoption of LED lighting might be saving money by using less electricity but it's making it harder to see the stars, due to increased light pollution.
The study published in the journal Science states that the night sky is getting 10 per cent brighter every year. The experts said the light pollution is being driven by the growth of cheaper, cleaner and brighter LED lighting.
Notably, it was in 2007 that the US Congress mandated thatall lightbulbs be three times more efficient. Last month, the policy finally kicked into effect, effectively banning incandescentlight bulbs in favour of LEDs and other compact fluorescents.
"Artificial lighting that escapes into the sky causes it to glow, preventing humans and animals from seeing the stars. Satellites can measure the light emitted upward, but they are not sensitive to all wavelengths produced by LED lighting or to light emitted horizontally," the study noted.
Consequently, the Milky Way is gradually disappearing from our view and so are the other fainter stars. For researchers, the absence of a dark sky means they are unable to peer deep into space and conduct their research.
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Stephen Hummel, the dark skies senior outreach coordinator at the University of Texas' McDonald Observatory told CBS News:"The most common kinds you see, the sort of bright white ones, are absolutely making the problem much worse."
According to the American Lighting Association, a body that represents lighting manufacturers,the problem of light pollution is "more extensive than originally thought". On being quizzed by about what was being done to alter the status quo, the body saidmany of its manufacturers now make shielded outdoor light fixtures to direct light away from the sky.
Not only is light pollution hazardous for scientists looking into space and stars but it is also linked to disrupted sleeping patterns and bad health -in humans and animals both. One study even linked excessive lighting to the local insect decline while birds often killed themselves by hitting the brightly illuminated buildings.
Scientists argue that solving the light pollution problem is not really about money or infrastructure, albeit awareness. Light pollution is one of the few kinds of pollution that can be solved and is completely reversible - all it requires is asingle flip of a switch.
(With inputs from agencies)
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