National Geographic had an article about light polution in our country. Many areas are starting Dark Sky codes and regulations.
Why can't we in America begin to do what is right for our environment? Lights would be a good place to start.
http://www.selene-ny.org/downloads/lightfixtures.pdf
Types of lights for homeowners interested in the Dark Skies movement. Our outside lights are hooded. We turn our lights out now to prevent bugs, etc.
My inlaws in a retirement community have a mailbox which can be turned on for emergency rescue, etc. Public services such as police and firemen would need to see your address.
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/cherrysprings/cherrysprings_darkskies.aspx
Why not a Dark Sky Parks in your state? I'm sure we already have park lands which are way out and dark.
Here in my town there are too many lights to see a dark sky with many stars. I miss them since I grew up in a rural area.
Comments (6)
stevensje, are you really just Al Gore posing as stevensje? You do know that criminal love it when it is dark outside...right?
Big "crowing" Rooster.
No I am not Al Gore. Are you Bush? National Geographic had an issue on it.
Go to your library and read about it.
I didn't say one couldn't have lights. The lights must be hooded, etc. Did
you read the links about lights?
Where are lights not hooded? I have seen none of them?
This isn't so much an issue of whether the lights are hooded or not, but one about the type of hood. Some generate more light pollution than others.
You can see the difference from a plane at night. For some street lights you only see a circle of lighted ground. With others, you can see a bright spot at the center -- either a direct line-of-sight to the bulb, or something on the street light is reflecting a great deal of light upwards.
Unhooded and poorly hooded street lights waste energy and pour light upwards unnecessarily, lighting the night sky and obscuring the stars.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia/Light_Pollution
This is a photo of a city with buildings having lights. What happened to the Carter cry to remove so many lights when not in use? Can't workers and cleaning people turn off the lights when not needed?
National Geographic had a photo the big Morman church lite up at night. Those spotlights travel for miles in all directions. They might consider the light polution they create.
We need to save energy and stop using it so freely.
http://www.lightpollution.it/worldatlas/pages/fig1.htm
Here's a map of the world with it's lights. We can have the dark areas of the country for Star Gazing tourism. I see that the areas which are dark are out west.
It would be a new kind of National Park. Dark Sky Park. There may even be sky gaving areas in parks we already own. They are beautiful during the day also.