Quantifying Light Pollution

The National Park Services Night Sky Team recently released the results of a groundbreaking study of our nation’s national parks. What they discovered will shock many. In even the wildest and most remote of our national parks, the night sky is negatively impacted by artificial light at night… light pollution. Physical scientists Chad Moore and Dan Duriscoe of the National Park Service sampled dozens of parks throughout the west and found virtually all suffered measurably. The ecological effects of all this artificial lighting are only now beginning to be understood. Recent studies have even shown this to be a mounting threat to our own health. These studies are stark examples of the incredible scope of the problem. Fully 2/3 of all Americans are now unable to see the Milky Way from their own backyards and 99% live under night skies tainted by light pollution. Checkout Science News for more on this story… and the Night Sky Team’s Natural Lightscapes website.