Light Pollution

Light pollution is the alteration of the natural patterns of light and dark in ecosystems, resulting from the unnecessary and inefficient use of artificial lighting, and it takes several overlapping forms, including light trespass, over-illumination, glare, light clutter and skyglow, with a single light source often falling into more than one category at once. Its reach is now global: roughly 83 percent of the world's population lives under light-polluted skies, 23 percent of Earth's land area is affected by skyglow, and about 80 percent of North Americans can no longer see the Milky Way from where they live, with global light pollution growing by at least 49 percent between 1992 and 2017 and by a further 16 percent between 2014 and 2022. The phenomenon compromises human health, disrupts ecosystems and damages aesthetic environments, with urban areas facing the greatest risk, and while solutions such as adjusting light fixtures or choosing more appropriate bulbs exist, addressing the problem also involves political, social and economic considerations because it is a fundamentally human-made phenomenon.