Ways must be found to preserve as much of the night sky as possible wrote The New York Times in an editorial. Excerpts:
It is almost impossible for most of us to imagine the time, long before the invention of the light bulb, when the stars were bright enough to cast shadows. Nobody wants to go back to dark alleyways, but we also know that man-made light can pollute as well as illuminate.
Scientists are only now studying how perpetual twilight affects the lives of birds and other animals, but there is no doubt that a clear, starry night has become a diminishing human pleasure.
Huge, electrified cities spread their nighttime glow for miles. On a 9-point scale —- with 1 being a truly dark night —- New York City ranks as a 9 and most suburbs seldom reach below a 5. Light is so pervasive that during a blackout in Los Angeles, some residents became alarmed at a liquid-like substance that had taken over the sky. It was, of course, the Milky Way.
Some public officials in Connecticut and Arizona have done particularly well promoting these darker skies by using better lighting. Pete Grannis, the New York state environmental commissioner who has long been pushing to limit light pollution, should stay on the case. Now, New York City Councilman Alan Gerson also has begun arguing that streetlights should be aimed downward in a way that spares the sky and cuts the glare in people’s eyes. It is a sensible proposal and well worth the energy.
