The Oregon Outback, an area of southeastern Oregon, has earned a new designation as the largest of the Dark Sky Sanctuaries not just in the U.S., but internationally. DarkSky International, a nonprofit organization with a mission to educate on and minimize light pollution, has certified that Phase 1 of the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky […]
More than 80 percent of the world is affected by light pollution. Humans have become so accustomed to not seeing stars in the city that, following a blackout caused by a 1984 earthquake in Los Angeles, people reported seeing a “giant silvery cloud,” which was in fact our own Milky Way galaxy showing up in […]
The Science and Technology Committee of the House of Lords of the UK has published a new report that highlights harmful health impacts from artificial light pollution and noise pollution. It recommends increased research and policies for these “neglected pollutants” that lack regulation and have impacts that are not well understood. The report, titled “The […]
A new study by researchers at Plymouth University has found that coastal cities can cause enough light pollution to trick coral reefs so that they spawn outside of times that are best for reproduction. The release of eggs is triggered by lunar cycles on particular nights of the year. These are called coral broadcast spawning […]
The increasing problem of light pollution can have negative effects on both humans and wildlife. In people, it can cause sleep deprivation, increased stress, headaches and even anxiety. Artificial light can attract animals like sea turtles, moths and frogs, leading them astray and making them more vulnerable to predators and exhaustion. A new study has […]
Climate concerns motivated a Montana judge to cancel the air quality permit for a controversial natural gas power plant. The 175-megawatt NorthWestern Energy plant would have emitted more than 23 million tons of greenhouse gases over its 30-year or more lifespan — the equivalent of adding 167,327 new cars to the roads each year — something […]
The vast majority of the populated planet cannot see the natural night sky because of light pollution; fewer still are the number of Americans or Europeans who can.
On the morning of October 2, Stephen Maciejewski, an Audubon Pennsylvania volunteer, expected to tally a few dead birds in Philadelphia during their peak migration season. But instead, he found hundreds of dead birds, CNN reported. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Maciejewski told CNN in October. “There were birds everywhere, and they were all […]
By Frank La Sorte and Kyle Horton Millions of birds travel between their breeding and wintering grounds during spring and autumn migration, creating one of the greatest spectacles of the natural world. These journeys often span incredible distances. For example, the Blackpoll warbler, which weighs less than half an ounce, may travel up to 1,500 […]