Light pollution from the perspective of Roosevelt mid-school students

protein similar to the photosensitive melanopsin molecule, artificial light competes with moonlight (which plays a vital role in coral reproduction,) and can prevent coral spawning.

How the whole ecosystem is being affected: Many animals affected by light pollution end up not mating, or are somehow disturbed. Humans and many other species rely on these plants and animals for survival. When one species dies off or is reduced in numbers, others are affected; it’s a whole chain reaction.

We could lose plants because of lack of pollination and loose animals because of lack of mating all because we are too lazy to fix some lights. But wait, you can help. See the article “How you can help” to find out how to help adjust your lights and save the environment from light pollution! As Barbara Mikulski once said, “Each one of us can make a difference. Together we can make change.”

Turn off your lights for a brighter future!

(Pun intended)

The Cycle of Waste By Alia

Lighting that emits too much light or shines when and where it’s not needed is wasteful. Wasting energy has huge economic and environmental consequences all around the world today. Consider the fact that burning fossil fuels releases over 15 million tons of Co2 into the atmosphere. Lights from big cities affect animals, plants and the ability to see the night sky.

Many lights are “unshielded” and release light upward where it's not needed, thus wasting the energy that we so painstakingly had to make in the first place.

We already waste energy that is bad for the environment, that and the added problem of making it at all is enough to kill our planet and economy. The more light we waste the more energy we have to produce, and the cycle starts again. Did you know that the amount of carbon dioxide we produce is equal to the intake of about 600 million trees? Installing quality outdoor lighting could cut energy use by 60-70%, save billions of dollars and cut carbon emissions. Unnecessary indoor lighting—particularly in empty office buildings at night— should be turned off.

Hello darkness my old friend By Annie, Rhiannon, Calla and Jessie

Light pollution can lead to poor human health such as risk for obesity, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes, breast cancer and more. Artificial light at night can disrupt the human sleep cycle. The glare from artificial lights can damage your sight. Artificial lights are harming not only humans, but also animals which could affect humans in the long term. Overall, light pollution dramatically affects human’s health negatively. While light may benefit our total lifestyle, its effects will hold lasting damage on the livelihood of many innocent creatures.

Affecting crime and safety By Rilee

Some people may argue that the street lights keep citizens safe from nightly criminal activities. However, there is no clear proof that increasing outdoor lighting will keep you safe from crime. Light naturally makes you feel safer, but it is not scientifically proven that it will do so. There are many studies that show that outdoor lighting is not a factor of increased or decreased criminal activities. In reality, increased outdoor lighting can increase crimes by making property and victims easier to see. Lights can also affect people's vision, which could cause an increase in car crashes.

Night Sky Heritage

Night sky heritage is when the light from the city blocks out our “Starry Night.” Vincent van Gogh saw a starry night and the lights are blocking the stars and the Milky Way. According to the International Dark-sky Association, “Van Gogh painted his famous ‘Starry Night’ in Saint Rémy, France, in 1889. Now, the Milky Way can no longer be seen from there. If he were alive today, would he still be inspired to paint ‘Starry Night’?” The reason they state “would he still be inspired to paint starry night?” is because of light pollution. Our lights that help us see can be minimized and we can turn on fewer lights. If we did this we could see the Milky Way.

Light Us Show You How to Help By William, Miller, and Quinlan

Light pollution is an overlooked problem across our world that needs to be stopped—and you can help! Light pollution causes many problems for us and the environment including things like temporary blindness causing crashes, disorders and cancer, disruption of sleep cycles,

LIGHT POLLUTION