A new Nature Reviews article by Linares Arroyo et al. gives a comprehensive overview of global light pollution distribution and trends, and efforts to measure and monitor it.
It’s one thing to light up bridges at night (which is already problematic for myriad environmental reasons). But it’s another to use that lighting for partisan reasons to express the state’s position toward a politically disfavored group.
This is using light at night as a tool of political warfare, and it’s wrong.
Are some #insects evolving in response to light pollution?
"We find a stark decline in blacklight trap efficacy over 25 years of monitoring in Delaware, USA, mirrored over 10 years of monitoring in New Jersey, USA. While the precise causes of this decline remain a subject for discussion, the practical consequences are clear: insect conservationists cannot fully rely on long-term trends from entomological light traps."
Natural cycles of light and dark are needed for ideal wellbeing. Artificial light at night disrupts this rhythm, but does it lead to ill health? Read more about the surprisingly complicated relationship between light at night and human health, and what we still need to learn to find the optimal balance between them.
New paper alert! I'm delighted to be able to present the first article published from our joint project between the @UniOfExeter Environment and Sustainability Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, modelling #artificiallight#ALAN, #lightpollution, and its #ecological impacts.
"A second piece of legislation, the Dark Skies Protection Act, S.7663/A5632 would significantly reduce #LightPollution in #NewYork by requiring most non-essential outdoor #lighting be covered by an external shield, be motion-activated, or be turned off between 11 PM and 5 AM. ... The Dark Skies Act will help create a safer environment for #birds by reducing the #ArtificialLight in our night skies."
"We found that exposure to light at night was associated with higher odds of allergic diseases, with the strongest association observed for ALAN exposure, followed by evening #chronotype and exposure to night shift work."
"A world-first Australian study is investigating whether too much artificial light exposure at night can affect #seaweed. For us humans, seeing blue and other forms of light during the night can disrupt our natural sleep cycle. And researchers in Sydney are trying to find out how much our coastal seaweed forests are also impacted."
On #GroundhogDay I was checking in with my namesake #AlanTheGroundhog and I learned that apparently at overnight music festivals in the UK it's become a thing to yell "Alan" in the middle of the night?
Via TheTab: "Who is Alan? The hunt for the lost soul who keeps us all awake at festivals every year"
#LightPollution represents wasted electricity, which in turn means millions of tons of greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere every year — even when we use energy-efficient outdoor #lighting
"With the extended use of indoor/outdoor light, smartphones, television, computers, and social jetlag people are exposed to excessive artificial light at night increasing their photoperiod. ... Long photoperiod is an established disrupter of the #CircadianRhythm and can induce a range of chronic #health conditions including adiposity, altered hormonal signaling and metabolism, premature #ageing and poor psychological health."
Just received in the post: the January 2024 issue of #SkyAndTelescope Magazine that contains the article that Jessica Heim and I wrote about #LightPollution activism and #LightingPolicy advances. Having a byline in a magazine that I read as a kid is a real bucket-list item.
It's even more of an honor to be published alongside the companion article by @travislongcore on the biological effects of #ALAN.
"It is clear from our data that artificial light sources alter predator-prey interactions with possible cascading effects for food webs and community assemblages."
"In over 70% of our models, we identify skyglow as a highly influential and consistently positive predictor of bird migration stopover density across the United States. This finding points to the potential of an expanding threat to avian migrants: peri-urban illuminated areas may act as ecological traps at macroscales that increase the mortality of birds during migration."
Acute exposure to 500-lux artificial light at night alters the expression of #genes in retinal cells involved in signaling pathways linked to cellular stress and inflammation;
Chronic exposure to #ALAN causes changes in both scotopic and photopic retinal sensitivity; and
ALAN exposure "impairs visual function in the long term, linked to retinal degeneration "which can lead to #vision loss."
Welcome back to Idiot Reviewers! Today, we're diving into the mysterious world of Alan Wake 2. 🌑🎮 Join us as we explore the thrilling return to darkness, u...
"This paper discusses ... some policy insights for reducing circadian disruption include regulating shift work, updating public lighting, and incentivizing circadian-based technologies."
'Resident Alien': Linda Hamilton says working with Alan Tudyk like 'comedy camp' (www.businessinsider.com)
"The Terminator" star Linda Hamilton says she's humbled to work on "Resident Alien" with Alan Tudyk because of his comedic talents.
Unraveling the Mystery: Alan Wake 2 Review and Analysis 🕹️ (youtu.be)
Welcome back to Idiot Reviewers! Today, we're diving into the mysterious world of Alan Wake 2. 🌑🎮 Join us as we explore the thrilling return to darkness, u...