Abstract: This comment explores the negative effects of light pollution and considers whether current levels of artificial light at night (LAN) warrant federal control by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This study first identifies the negative effects of light pollution on human health and the environment, treatment of which aligns with the mission statement of the EPA. Light pollution comprises both a private and a public nuisance. Next, this comment assesses the effectiveness of the common law approach, local government, state government, and federal control over light pollution in this context to determine which form of governance is most effective. Then, EPA involvement through federal and state implemented plans, as well as federal regulation of manufacturing is investigated. Last, this comment considers the necessity of private action through an emerging legal reform called new governance, which emphasizes public-private approaches. The negative effects of light pollution on human health and the environment could eventually lead the EPA to assert control over the regulation of light pollution, but under the current presidential administration this is highly unlikely. The predicted lack of government action leads me to call for nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to step in and take action to privately regulate light pollution and mitigate its negative effects through certification regimes, insurance premium incentives, and corporate social responsibility until government exerts regulatory control.
Keywords: Society; law; light pollution; regulation; environmentalism
Abstract: Alternation between day and night is a predictable environmental fluctuation that organisms use to time their activities. Since the invention of artificial lighting, this predictability has been disrupted and continues to change in a unidirectional fashion with increasing urbanization. As hormones mediate individual responses to changing environments, endocrine systems might be one of the first systems affected, as well as being the first line of defense to ameliorate any negative health impacts. In this Review, we first highlight how light can influence endocrine function in vertebrates. We then focus on four endocrine axes that might be affected by artificial light at night (ALAN): pineal, reproductive, adrenal and thyroid. Throughout, we highlight key findings, rather than performing an exhaustive review, in order to emphasize knowledge gaps that are hindering progress on proposing impactful and concrete plans to ameliorate the negative effects of ALAN. We discuss these findings with respect to impacts on human and animal health, with a focus on the consequences of anthropogenic modification of the night-time environment for non-human organisms. Lastly, we stress the need for the integration of field and lab experiments as well as the need for long-term integrative eco-physiological studies in the rapidly expanding field of light pollution.
Keywords: Human Health; Alan; Glucocorticoid; Hormones; Light pollution; Melatonin; Metabolism; Sleep; Stress; Thyroid; Urban ecology
Abstract: A central aim of the â??lighting revolutionâ? (the transition to solid-state lighting technology) is decreased energy consumption. This could be undermined by a rebound effect of increased use in response to lowered cost of light. We use the first-ever calibrated satellite radiometer designed for night lights to show that from 2012 to 2016, Earthâ??s artificially lit outdoor area grew by 2.2% per year, with a total radiance growth of 1.8% per year. Continuously lit areas brightened at a rate of 2.2% per year. Large differences in national growth rates were observed, with lighting remaining stable or decreasing in only a few countries. These data are not consistent with global scale energy reductions but rather indicate increased light pollution, with corresponding negative consequences for flora, fauna, and human well-being.
Keywords: Remote Sensing; Suomi NPP; VIIRS; light pollution; *economics
Abstract: Outdoor lighting is becoming increasingly widespread, and residents are suffering from serious light pollution as a result. Residents’ awareness of their rights to protection has gradually increased. However, due to the sometimes-inaccessible nature of residential vertical light incidence intensity data and the high cost of obtaining specific measurements, there is no appropriate hierarchic compensation for residents suffering from different degrees of light pollution. It is therefore important to measure light pollution levels and their damage at the neighborhood scale to provide residents with basic materials for proper protection and to create more politically-suitable solutions. This article presents a light pollution assessment method that is easy to perform, is low-cost and has a short data-processing cycle. This method can be used to monitor residential zone light pollution in other cities. We chose three open areas to test the spatial variation pattern of light intensity. The results are in accordance with spatial interpolation patterns and can be fit, with high precision, using the inverse distance weighted interpolation (IDW) method. This approach can also be used in three dimensions to quantitatively evaluate the distribution of light intensity. We use a mixed-use zone in Beijing known as The Place as our case study area. The vertical illumination at the windows of residential buildings ranges from 2 lux to 23 lux; the illumination in some areas is far higher than the value recommended by CIE. Such severe light pollution can seriously interfere with people’s daily lives and has a serious influence on their rest and health. The results of this survey will serve as an important database to assess whether the planning of night-time lighting is scientific, and it will help protect the rights of residents and establish distinguished compensation mechanisms for light pollution.