The effects of bad lighting and light pollution and how they can be reversed
It’s a warm summer evening. The cicadas have quietened down and the sky is now slowly turning into a deep red as the sun sets over a beautifully calm sea. A breeze begins to stir up as the last dazzling rays of sunlight flicker and then disappear altogether beyond the horizon.
The magic is only starting. A pinpoint of light now appears close to where the sun set a few moments earlier, brightening with every minute that passes. It is joined a short while later by a second speck of light. Unassuming though they might be, these pinpoints of light are none other than the two largest planets of our Solar System, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Either of them would dwarf our planet.
As the sky continues to darken, flecks of light emerge everywhere. Swiftly now, it appears as if a dark velvety curtain adorned with beautifully glowing jewels has been drawn across the heavens, and a milky white band of fuzzy glow stretches upwards in majestic, awe-inspiring beauty.
This is no ordinary light. It comes from a great number of suns – some smaller, some larger than our own – all lying very far away. Such are the distances involved that this light has had to journey for hundreds, even thousands of years to reach us in this form.
Unfortunately, this experience is nowadays denied to us from nearly every place on the Maltese islands bar a few select coastal sites, most of them located in Gozo. And the latter are under continuous threat.
Over many years, badly designed artificial lighting has sprung up over the country, all but blotting out the light of the stars and leaving us with a sky awash in a cold, jarring glow, thus making us one of only five countries whose citizens are denied the possibility of observing the Milky Way from their home (see Falchi et al., The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness, Science Advances, vol. 2, no. 6, 2016, e1600377).
In 2002, MEPA had designated a number of sites in Gozo and Comino as dark sky heritage areas (see Fig. 1), stating that “where relevant, reflective signs shall be employed to guide driving at night, whilst the installation of lighting which is not related to aerial or maritime navigation, shall be strongly discouraged.” In the case of Gozo, two stretches of coast were included in this plan: one extends from Mġarr ix-Xini in the South all the way to Wied l-Għasri in the North West (with a break at Xlendi) and another goes from Ramla l-Ħamra in the North to Ħondoq ir-Rummien in the East. For Comino, the plan identified the North Eastern part of the island spanning the area between Santa Marija Caves and the cliff facing L-Iskolji tas-Sultan.
Since the time that this plan was put in place, the Maltese islands have seen many transformations, most of which have exacerbated the problem of light pollution and affected these dark sky heritage areas.
However, the problem of light pollution does not only affect our ability to appreciate and study the night sky. It impinges on our lives and environment in more ways than one (see Fig. 2). Badly designed lighting results in problems such as glare, which can severely impair one’s visual acuity. This is something that is certainly not desirable when driving, for instance. Moreover, light trespassing into people’s home creates a myriad of problems ranging from mild discomfort to more serious sleep disruption.
By way of example, one can refer to the photograph below (Fig. 3) that showcases an appalling lighting solution. These two street lights in Għajnsielem were affixed at a nearly horizontal angle with the aim of illuminating a playing field on the other side of the street! Rather than installing properly designed lights in the playing field itself, two exceedingly bright LED fixtures are being used to flood the
entire area with horrible lighting that is trespassing into people’s homes, disrupting nocturnal wildlife, and ruining views of the night sky. It should be noted that in this instance, the local council was notified of this problem several weeks ago. However, there was no acknowledgement and the problem was never addressed, sadly betraying a total lack of willingness to learn and ameliorate matters.
Several other examples of bad lighting design abound on our islands, with solutions often being quite simple to adopt. The answer in general is not to switch off all our lights such that we walk and drive around in pitch darkness; nobody wants that with good reason. Rather, the way out of the problem is to adopt properly designed, socalled full cutoff lighting, i.e. lighting that illuminates the ground as required without spilling light everywhere else.
Luckily, light pollution is a reversible problem - and authorities can effectively choose to bring positive change, sometimes with little effort. For example, do we really need our public monuments, churches, building facades and playing fields to be illuminated all night long, oftentimes with skyward-pointing floodlighting, the worst possible option? And when considering new lights for a road or a public space, should we not consider the impact the proposed lighting will have on the surrounding community and environment before we go ahead and implement halfbaked solutions? This is not to say that there have not been instances where good lighting was installed. However, the situation is still a dire one. It is sad to note, for example, that recent years have seen the installation of bright, LED fixtures on our roads that emit very cold, blue-white light, seemingly with little thought or consultation about the matter. Studies have even linked this kind of lighting with adverse effects on health as it can interfere with our circadian rhythm. Such decisions exhibit a lack of understanding of the very real problems surrounding light pollution, and illustrate the need for more awareness about this issue. Our nighttime environment is fast becoming a vista of blindingly cold light. Seeing as how there was an investment in new lighting after all, this was a lost opportunity where the job could have been done properly from the start.
Coming back to our dark sky heritage areas, these are truly special zones and we have to employ all our efforts to protect them. No lighting of any kind should be allowed at these sites. Places such as Dwejra in Gozo still offer a breathtaking and humbling view of the Milky Way on a clear night, and the introduction of any lighting would severely impact our ability to enjoy these sights. Moreover, colonies of Scopoli’s Shearwater and Yelkouan Shearwater make their home at the cliffs of Dwejra, providing a most eerie and beautiful soundscape after sundown. These birds are disoriented by artificial lighting and their conservation hinges in part on our ability to continue protecting this zone from the introduction of any lighting.
Finally, countries the world over are also recognising the potential of dark sky heritage areas for eco-tourism, attracting people who wish to enjoy the beautiful spectacle provided by a starry night sky. Conservation of our natural environment is not diametrically opposed to human activity and business interests. Its destruction, however, is a very effective way to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
The Department of Physics and Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy are currently embarking on a new study of sky brightness levels across our islands. Interested parties - authorities and non-governmental organisations alike - are most welcome and encouraged to get in touch. It is only through dedication and proper coordination that we can help ensure that future generations can still enjoy the peaceful beauty of the Maltese night sky.
Dr Joseph Caruana is a lecturer researching the early universe and galaxy formation & evolution at the Department of Physics and Institute of Space Sciences & Astronomy of the University of Malta.