Light Pollution

We used to rent a little cottage on the edge on Georgian Bay up at Lion's Head. The shore is lime stone rocks on the east side of the Bruce Peninsula. There is no fine sand beaches here - just rocks and icy cold water.

When the kids and grand kids came up we would make a fire pit with some gray limestone and eat charred marshmallows and wood smoke after sunset.

As Lion's Head is only about 200 yards from the 45th parallel, the North Star is visible at a 45 degree angle to the horizon. I pointed this out to my granddaughter Meagan. As well as Polaris, I identified the constellations Orion and Taurus and a few other individual stars that I knew by name from my high school days. Meagan showed polite, although not exactly exuberant, interest. The star Betelgeuse sparked some interest when I called it 'beetle-juice.'

When pointing out the Milky Way, my son became interested. "Where is it?" He asked. "I've never known where it was."

I was a bit surprised at the failings of the school system, and perhaps a little embarrassed that I had never taken the time to point out some of the heaven's and Earth's wonders when he was young.

He joined us for a short time as we waited to see a shooting star; something else that neither generation had ever seen.

City children cannot see the night sky now as we did in the 'olden days'. There is almost nowhere to view it without the combination of nitric-oxide haze and light pollution creating a problem. Even the Inuit elders claim that it is difficult to pass on legends to the young people because the night sky is corrupted with the light of the villages. All are being robbed -- such a pity!

Light Pollution! What is it? Well interestingly enough, it comes in several classifications -- light glare, light pollution, sky glow and light trespass. Light-Trespass is that new motion-sensing light that shines in your window whenever someone comes to visit your neighbour. It is also the security lights that shine into my home about 16 hours per day, from my neighbour, Robert Kerr Manor.

Much of this artificial light is here to protect us from the scary darkness. We saturate the night to protect our schools, parking lots, and homes. According to one recent study, it was found that providing light does just the opposite for both vandals and thieves.

Schools trustees in San Antonio Texas found that by leaving the lights off they not only reduced electricity bills but repairs due to vandalism dropped from $160,000 to $41,000 a year. According to findings, intruders using flashlights are also conspicuous and easier to spot. More and more schools are now using the "Dark Campus" approach due to these findings.

The Royal Observatory in England has been forced to move its telescopes twice since 1950 to escape excess light. It was forced to move to the Canary Islands off Africa in its latest move. Many other observatories have moved to the mountains of South America trying to find more friendly skies. Another is placed on top of an extinct volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. (Commuting must be a real pain in the neck.)

Most city areas, like the Toronto financial district, are disastrous for migrating birds. City buildings are often on the migration routes and pose hazards simply by their existence. The lighted windows in these high rise buildings attract the birds which break their necks when they fly into them -- and regrettably, fall dead to the streets.

Sea turtles are also in danger because of night lights. They are predisposed to head towards the reflections of starlight and moonlight in the water. When the lights of a home, or street lights, are near to the hatching area they are drawn away from the beach and to their deaths.

There are numerous organizations that are having a real impact on fighting light pollution. It seems that something can be done. Fortunately most people are eager to reduce the pollution from light when they find that there are alternatives.

According to an article in Air Canada's enRoute magazine, Sydney, Australia, now regulates all street and pedestrian lighting, decorative lighting, landscape illumination, exterior building lighting, and outdoor advertising signs. In the process they found new ways to illuminate buildings and outdoor spaces. Instead of crude floodlighting they use computer-controlled mini-floodlights placed in alcoves and under ledges.

Other cities, including Oshawa and Langley Township of BC, have shown an interest in participating in this program.

There are several organizations dedicated to fighting this light trash. Save Our Skies, and International Dark-Sky Association are two that I found on the Internet.

For those interested in more information,the Edmonton Light Awareness and Abatement Committee has good links.

Have a nice day.