We Recommend — 11 July 2009
Lights Out – Calm for the Senses

Has there ever been more waste than this?

Hardly.

Raising a child under light polluted skies is like depriving them of ever hearing music!

Old news to astronomers: satellite data show that light pollution has become serious throughout the world — and especially in the United States.

Colors indicate night-sky brightness directly overhead due to artificial light: only the black areas are totally free of large-scale light pollution. While the east is undoubtedly the worst offender, I can easily make out the Wasatch Front in this image.

At a time when politicians are struggling to control soaring energy costs, a new study by Italian and American researchers underscores just how much electricity we waste as light beamed uselessly into space — estimates for the US alone exceed $2,000,000,000 (2 Billion Dollars).

The study also reveals that about two-third’s of the world’s population — and 99 percent of those living in the U.S. — endure at least some degree of light pollution in their nighttime sky. Worse, more than two-thirds of Americans and half of all Europeans can no longer discern the Milky Way with the unaided eye even on clear, “dark” nights.

Light pollution is easily cleaned up, however.

Use only as much light as you need
Use it only when you need it
Use it only where you need it

Help us to reclaim our skies, “One Star At A Time!”

To your continued growth and journey!

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Kytka Hilmar-Jezek

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