When You Wish Upon a Wait. What??! : Light Pollution

Ralph Waldo Emerson writes in his book Nature, "Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are!  If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of a city of God which been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile." (6)  What would Emerson see if he took an evening stroll down a street in a city and looked into the night sky in these days? Probably not much but a haze of orange.  Light pollution is becoming a large problem, polluting the once pure darkness which Emerson spoke of.  Light pollution is a term used for artificial light which reflects upwards and contaminates natural light levels in the night sky.  This light hinders the ability for both humans and animals to naturally navigate during the night hours.  Now a days people in and surrounding cities are lucky to catch a glimpse of some of the brightest stars in the sky. From an environmental stand point, there are some serious ecological issues assoiciated with the amount of light pollution.    

One in particular is that it interferes with migration patterns in bird species. Just like almost every other organism on earth, birds rely on the sun and moon for everything.  Realizing that the sun is coming up is an indicator for most animals to get up as well.  However, this can be difficult determine when your nest or migration route runs right through a large city or is underneath a bright street light.  Consequently, several bird deaths can be accounted for by the presence of artificial light.  Similarly, constant exposure to artificial light has been linked to premature mating and migration of several bird species.  This can have extremely serious consequences, imagine birds birthing chicks and not being able to feed them.  Another way light pollution negatively affects animal species is in many nocturnal rodents.  Animals who rely on the blanket of night time darkness are suddenly constantly exposed to potential predators thus disrupting the natural ecosystem.