Dark skies for the future
Can we save our night sky from the ever-growing threat of light pollution?
o you work for Darth Vader?”
UK experiencing truly dark skies where they live. This means, unfortunately, that the majority of the population never get to stand under a starry night sky, gazing up in wonder. In this reality the Milky Way is invisible, meteor showers are a disappointing no-show and constellations are shrouded in an impenetrable, clinical white cloak of street lighting – with perhaps only the promise of a Starlink satellite to pique the interest of would-be stargazers.
The natural world too is paying the price for our addiction to light, as 60 per cent of our biodiversity depends on darkness to survive. Light pollution disrupts natural cycles of breeding, confuses bird migratory patterns and wreaks havoc on our insects. Ecologists have shown that in the UK, spring is appearing a whole week earlier due to light pollution. That’s why the work we are doing in North Wales is so vital.
The policies we are creating will ensure our skies are protected from future light pollution and what’s more, where possible, dark-sky-friendly lighting is being installed. Wales already has the highest percentage of protected dark skies anywhere in the world (17.61 per cent). When the AONBs of Anglesey, Llŷn Peninsula and the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley receive their designations, an impressive 22.9 per cent will be protected. And they say Wales is stuck in the dark ages like it’s a bad thing!