Of the many forms of pollution caused
by humans, none is more obvious than the misuse of lighting. Unwanted and unwelcome light trespass
began with the invention of the electric light and has expanded in proportion to the electrification
of the planet (see PHYSICS TODAY, June 2005, page 24). The major sources of light pollution include
street lighting, outdoor sports arenas, the promotional lighting of buildings and monuments,
and car sales lots.
Simply put, light pollution
is blinding ground-based astronomy. Extensive light pollution is gradually and inexorably reducing
the quality and utility of astronomical observations made from major observatories all over the
planet. To add insult to injury, more recently a number of medical researchers have discovered
a correlation between extensive light pollution and an emerging number of serious human disorders.1
The International Dark-Sky
Association (IDA) was founded by Kitt Peak astronomer David Crawford more than 18 years ago, and
is made up of concerned astronomers and others who are accepting the challenge to slow down the continually
advancing march toward brighter and brighter night skies. The IDA has taken the unusual stance
of enlisting the major utilities, lighting manufacturers' associations, professional lighting
engineering societies, and municipalities in finding better ways to achieve the objectives of
lighting for safety and commerce without denigrating the natural dark sky environment. Organizations
that have joined in supporting the IDA include the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America,
the International Association of Lighting Designers, the Illuminating Engineering Society
of Australia and New Zealand, and the Vienna-based International Commission on Illumination.
Although adopting coherent
and effective lighting ordinances can provide immediate gains—including less energy consumption,
improved security, and reductions in glare and light trespass—the improvement in preserving
our dark skies for astronomical research is insufficient. The institution that has the responsibility
to advance astronomical sciences in the US is the venerable American Astronomical Society. However,
that organization is failing to address the problem. Although AAS has always agreed with the goals
of the IDA and has written numerous papers and articles in support of the IDA's efforts to reduce
light pollution, it has failed to aggressively encourage its members to join and support the IDA.
Of all the members of the physics community, AAS has the most to lose by not directly supporting the
IDA.
I call on the US physics
community and all readers of PHYSICS TODAY to support the IDA, with your time and treasury, and to
actively engage in any of the IDA's many sections throughout the world. Failure to act today will
doom future generations from ever experiencing the wonder of seeing the stars from a dark and natural
site and will ensure that the dark skies can only be experienced through planetariums and other
artificial media. Astronomers of the future will only speculate on why this generation did not
take the lead in protecting our dark skies when the opportunity was so clearly and readily available.
Reference
1.See, for example, B. Harder, Science News169, 8 (2006).
[Editor's note:
We invited a response from Craig Wheeler, president of the American Astronomical Society,
and Kevin Marvel, AAS's executive officer.]
Wheeler and Marvel
reply: The International Dark-Sky Association does valuable work to preserve precious dark
skies. Through education, outreach, and consultation with lighting designers and policymakers,
the association promotes more efficient use of nighttime lighting to reduce light pollution.
We endorse the association's activities. The American Astronomical Society has been an affiliated
organization of the IDA for years, one of us is a lifetime member, and many AAS members and astronomy
institutions are active in the association as well. However, we believe that the IDA will draw members
principally through its accomplishments and the value they provide.
The membership of the IDA
is growing rapidly. The association currently has nearly twice as many members as the AAS. Even
if all US AAS members joined, IDA membership would only increase by about 20%. Roberts correctly
states that the IDA is composed of "astronomers and others." What he does not make clear is that the
others far outnumber the astronomers who are members, and rightly so. Light pollution predominantly
affects the general public. Poor nighttime lights threaten our health and safety, put migrating
wildlife at risk, waste energy and money, and deprive countless millions of the beauty of the nighttime
sky.
Light pollution, radio-frequency
interference, and space debris are all issues of concern to the AAS. All of these detrimental aspects
of human technology can potentially limit our ability to make astronomical observations. Light
pollution certainly does negatively affect ground-based astronomy. Astronomers have either
removed their telescopes to sites where the impact is minimal or worked with local communities—for
example, in Tucson, Arizona, and in the West Texas counties surrounding McDonald Observatory—to
reduce the growth of light pollution. Both efforts have been successful.
Light pollution will be
controlled through the public's recognition of its detrimental effects on life in general, not
through its impact on the small number of research observatories or the relatively small number
of professional astronomers in the world. We applaud the IDA and its continued efforts, and we pledge
to continue our support for its work.
Featured Jobs
