A couple of posts ago, I wrote a piece of how misguided Earth Hour is. I haven't changed my mind about that, but several readers availed themselves of the opportunity blogs deliver to point out that for them, the real driver behind Earth Hour is not the fight against Global Warming, but something called "Light Pollution".
LP (as those in the know like to call it) is the excess light thrown up by human activity. It floods the night sky right across the industrialised world, playing havoc with ecosystems and consuming huge resources. It can be as basic and personal as your neighbour's garden light shining into your bedroom, or as complex as the permanent glow over night time America and Europe.
Either way, it wastes enormous resources, and however you look at it, that's a bad thing.
I actually wish that's what Earth Hour was about, because I'd support it 100% if it was. Sadly though, the vast majority of people who will be participating in Earth Hour are blissfully unaware of LP, and will remain so when they switch their lights back on 61 minutes after they switch them off.
It's not their fault. If Earth Hour really is about Light Pollution, then those behind it have done an appalling job at getting the message out there. People will switch out their lights thinking they're somehow making a contribution to reducing carbon emissions. Blame the organisers, or, more probably, the media for dumbing down an important message.
I do thank my contributors, though, for giving Light Pollution a little oxygen in my blog. They have suitably educated me to an environmental issue that's worth the effort. We waste an enormous amount of energy indiscriminately spraying light out into the night, and in the process, irreparably interfere with the natural order of things.
4 comments:
Generally whatever we do, we do for a reason. Same goes for having lots of light.
We have light so we can see. So that we can work when it is dark outside. It's good for the economy.
It also makes the streets safer.
It does make the streets feel safer to be sure, but it does mean looking up into the sky is not what it used to be. I love going out into the wilds and looking up - the show is amazing.
Safer?
Try this snippet from Wikipedia...
"It is generally agreed that many people require light to feel safe at night, but campaigners for the reduction of light pollution often claim that badly or inappropriately installed lighting can lead to a reduction in safety if measured objectively, and that at the very least, it is wrong to assume that simply increasing light at night will lead to improved safety.
The International Dark-Sky Association claims there are no good scientific studies that convincingly show a relationship between lighting and crime. Furthermore, the association claims that badly installed artificial lights can create a deeper contrast of shadows in which criminals might hide."
Hmmmmm. Any 5 year old will tell you a dark street can be a very scary place.
Just like Prof Wiki says, it makes us "feel safer" and you don't need a lot to feel safer, but some light is good. I certaily don't feel confident walking down dark streets etc.
And a bit of light certainly helps reduce the tripping over lumps and cracks and stepping on nasty things factor.
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