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Everything You Need To Know About Light Pollution

Everything You Need To Know About Light Pollution

With the festive season in the air, an important factor of the celebration has always been the lights that are lit up literally everywhere. The many sources of artificial lights are now easily available and have become an important part of our lifestyles. Lights help in adding more bliss into the festive season, event, or just your personal space at home. It has the power to change moods, elevate any setting and also make a space feel wider and safe.

While we cannot really do without the lights to light up our world, how aware are we of the disadvantages that come with it? How much do you know about light pollution and its effects on our environment?

Let us dive right into it;

Everything You Need To Know About Light Pollution

What Is Light Pollution?

When artificial light, mostly for outdoor lighting, is used inordinately and misused for unnecessary reasons. This pollution, although not immediately visible, has had and continues to have a drastic effect on the environment of the world around. It, in fact, has a huge role to play in disrupting the ecosystems. There are three main types of light pollution which are: glare, light trespass, and skyglow. But how exactly does this light pollution have an effect on us? Let us look into how light pollution actually affects our ecosystem.

Environmental Effects Of Light Pollution
  • One of the most serious threats caused by light pollution is its effects on the flora and fauna. Light has a way of playing with the animal's senses which leads to them being confused about migratory patterns of other animals. This eventually disturbs the predator-prey relation that exists in the fauna system. This disrupts their natural way of hunting and routine of following natural light that divides the day and night.
  • ● Light in the form of energy is also widely used everywhere across the globe. However, lighting up the whole world takes up one-fourth of electricity consumption. This further leads to over usage of electricity in several aspects which causes energy wastage. This happens especially when the lighting used at night time is facing upward. When there is an energy wastage caused by excess light pollution, it also means there is a wastage in cost and carbon footprint.
  • When it comes to human beings, being exposed to a lot of white light during bedtime disrupts the rhythm of the melatonin production in the body which helps with sleep. When the sleep cycle is disturbed, so is the balance of the whole body. This imbalance of melatonin can pave way for sleep disorders and other health issues that gravely affect your physical and mental health.

This will further lead to stress, anxiety, constant fatigue, chronic headaches and even induce some kind of obesity. The effects of glare on growing and aging eyes can be drastic and easily visible. As sleep is one of the major aspects of having a healthy life when disrupted it is directly connected to causing a lot of health issues. The fatigue is visibly seen physically but it also has an immense effect on the mental health of a person too. Poor mental health will also deplete your daily life experiences and performances which can negatively affect your whole life.

Types Of Light Pollution

Glare

Excess and continuous exposure to unshielded lighting can be one of the most dangerous things for a human eye, especially an aging one. This can lead to people losing vision power, becoming temporarily blind, and causing other eye-related health problems. This can also make an individual unfit for driving.

Light Trespass

As the name suggests, it is a phenomenon where unwanted, artificial light gets into the personal property or spaces of an individual. For example, excess light on the streets enters the bedroom, which disrupts the aesthetics and sleeps setting of the person. This inconvenience caused by light pollution can disrupt people’s lifestyles and life routines.

Everything You Need To Know About Light Pollution
Skyglow

This term describes an area that you can see having a glow effect from the excess lighting caused by overpopulation in a particular area. This phenomenon refers to when all the unshielded light facing upward and also the reflected light is combined to cause light pollution. In areas where you can identify excess usage of light, you can see the fading of the night sky too. The stars and constellations would not be able to be identified in such areas.

Can Light Pollution Be Controlled?

Now that we are aware of what light pollution is, and in what ways it can affect the world’s ecosystem. It is a huge relief to know that light pollution can easily be controlled and reduced if we learn to be responsible citizens of the world. Minimal use of electricity and light is necessary situations must be practiced by everyone. For this, using the right electronic appliances that illuminate light is also extremely important. Cheap and low-quality light appliances have a tendency to draw more energy than required and make way for the above-mentioned discomfort.

Click here to check out environment-friendly light appliances that we strongly recommend for the best experiences. You can now set your personal spaces with the most appropriate and safe lighting and benefit from it. This festive season, do not shy away from celebrating with lights. All you need to do is be responsible and mindful while you light away from your favorite spaces.

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About Nicky Walker

Nicola is a lighting specialist at The Lightbulb Company with a keen awareness of the important role lighting plays in our everyday lives. She enjoys discovering new ways in which lighting can affect science, mental health and of course, most of all, reduce our carbon footprints.