BPO Book Club: Dark Skies (on Zoom)
June 23rd – “The Darkness Manifesto: On Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms that Sustain Life by Johan Eklöf
light pollution
Less Of the Night Sky Is Visible Than Ever Before
Light pollution now steals a pristine night sky from the majority of humanity. The rise of LED lighting, primarily since 2014, is to blame.
Simply Looking Up Inspires Scientific Exploration
Ever since the first human beings looked up at the night sky, it has been a source of wonder, inspiration, and awe.
Today, most of humanity only has access to a heavily polluted sky rather than the pristine views our ancestors enjoyed, but that sense of awe and wonder still remains.
A Million New SpaceX Satellites Will Destroy the Night Sky—For Everyone On Earth
SpaceX recently announced that it wants to launch one million more of these satellites as orbital data centers for AI computing power.
The human eye can see fewer than 4,500 stars in an unpolluted night sky. If we permit SpaceX to launch these satellites, we will see more satellites than stars—for large portions of the night and the year, throughout the world. This will severely damage the night sky for everyone on Earth.
Light Pollution: What Is Brightening Our Night Skies?
Recent studies indicate that light pollution is increasing by 10% annually, primarily due to private and commercial sources rather than streetlights, which have been converted to energy-efficient LEDs.