Household Lighting Destroys the Night Sky

For those sky-watchers who worry about the environment, having the world go green is not enough. Alternatively, it ought to be dark green in color. Although light pollution doesn't generally cause as much alarm as other issues such as the changing climate, there is an outspoken community of stargazers that feel this is an important problem that must be worked on and eventually solved.

Our Milky Way is home to hundreds of millions of stars, fewer and fewer of which are observable due to increasing light pollution; not only does light pollution interfere with our experiencing the wonder of our own galaxy, but it also wastes energy. In two-thirds of American cities, people are unable to see the Milky Way at their homes.

The Milky way is used by many to gauge the level of visibility in a dark night sky. If you consult an atlas and look at the eastern portion of the US, you will find areas the size of a small country with dark unpolluted skies. It's difficult to find a place where you can truly feel and see the darkness, here in the West, even if you're willing to travel long distances to get there.

Most crimes against property take place during the day, so 24-hour security lighting (in home and industrial settings) may not be as important as people think. With Light pollution becoming as serious a threat to us as any other pollution emission, there really needs to be more action taken than just the twenty-seven States that currently have laws on the books about energy lights or lights that are pointing towards our night time sky.

It is necessary for homeowners to reduce their pollution levels The first step is to reduce security lighting. The second step is to place window coverings precisely in place. Lessening security lighting is as important as being able to properly put in window coverings.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbasecamp.com

Martha is a freelance journalist writing about Venetian Blinds.

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