A Little Light Might Be Too Bright

Light Pollution affects our skies, our environment and our lives

Story by Tiffany Richards

The stars light up the night sky. Constellations like Perseus, Taurus and Cetus shine down on the earth light years away. The beauty of it all is captured in the eyes of many dwellers of upstate New York. Yet, lights from the city illuminate the skyline and provide an eerie, white glow that obstructs the view and ends this sight for many.

Light pollution occurs when artificial light goes where it is not meant to go. It is a growing problem on our planet. “We went from seeing thousands of stars a night to seeing only hundreds,” Lisabeth Kissner says, astronomy lecturer at SUNY Plattsburgh. Light used in industries and power plants is a contributor to this pollution. Any city that has a lot of these light pollution, she says. They need the light for security at night and for decorations. Yet, too much light can have negative effects.

“We are not getting our natural cues of darkness"

“Sixty percent of light is wasted, which means this light goes up into the sky,” she says. Instead of helping people see what they need to, the light just hinders their view of the stars. It can even stop people from seeing intruders in a yard, Kissner says. Light from municipalities, hospitals, parking lots, farms with large spotlights and any other forms of night light causes this pollution. “Interior lighting can cause light pollution too,” she says.

Light trespass, a form of light pollution, can even cause problems with humans. Light trespass is when light passes into peoples’ windows at night. This disturbance can mess with our daily rhythmic activity cycle, our circadian rhythm. Through time, humans have adapted to working through the day and sleeping at night, Kissner says. The digestive system naturally shuts down and melatonin, a sleep hormone, is secreted during sleep. The artificial light can mess with how we sleep. “We are not getting our natural cues of darkness,” she says.

In the North Country, Plattsburgh is just one contributor to light pollution. In the downtown area, there are a lot of romantic torch lights, she says. The lights may be a nice touch to the cities atmosphere, but they are contributing to the problem. “Plattsburgh is a little bit greedy with their electricity. Because we don’t pay a lot, we tend to be wasteful.”

Bill Treacy, manager of Plattsburgh Municipal Lighting Department, says that the city is trying to convert the current mercury lights to EPA approved high pressure sodium lights. Eighty percent of the city is already on these energy efficient lights, he says.

"We have pretty good vision for astronomy"

The skies of the Adirondack Mountains is still a sight to see. “The physical restriction to seeing stars and constellations depends on where you are on earth,” Kissner says. Due to lighting restrictions, these mountains have less pollution than areas outside the park. The population density is also low. “We have pretty good vision for astronomy,” she says. It’s good all night and all year long. “For New York, it’s actually quite dark.”

Anywhere in the Adirondacks is good for seeing the beauty of the night skies. “The higher the better,” she says. The deeper and more remote you are from houses is probably the best, she adds.

Light pollution has affected many. It has spread to various parts of the US, but some towns are fighting it. Since 2001, Flagstaff, AZ., has been known as the world’s first “international dark-sky city” according to the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition website. Northern Arizona has codes that the cities and counties have to follow in order to prevent light pollution, glare and light trespass. They want to keep up the view of the night skies and conserve energy and resources.

Steps against light pollution have been made elsewhere, but the struggle continues in Plattsburgh too. Kissner has talked to her former astronomy students about starting a coalition like the one in Flagstaff, but the idea is still in the works. She says that a key to stopping light pollution is education. “It’s possible, but it takes a tremendous amount of work. Astronomers are saying let’s just use light as efficiently as we can.”

Do you see the stars at night?