Light Pollution Reflection / Refraction Number 30
Posted November 13, 2008
WARNING:
I guarantee my reflections and refractions will create controversy and confrontation; and quite likely I'll step on many toes, but it's time to be brutally honest.
The End of Night
Have you seen the article in the November issue of the National Geographic Magazine about light pollution?
The cover title is: THE END OF NIGHT: Why We Need Darkness. The author, Verlyn Klinkenborg, did a masterful job.
And the cover image by Jim Richardson, showing Chicago at night, is a visual masterpiece. A lot of lights! How many of these lights could we turn off and still feel safe and secure? 10%? 25%? 30%? 40%? 60%? 75%?
Here's an excerpt from the article: "Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself. The regular oscillation of waking and sleep in our lives—one of our circadian rhythms—is nothing less than a biological expression of the regular oscillation of light on Earth. So fundamental are these rhythms to our being that altering them is like altering gravity."
Read the article here:
Also, check out the extra links here:
Sunny Days and Milky Way Nights.
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© Jack Troeger, Dark Sky Initiative. troegerj@raccoon.com