Light pollution transcript

Mike Kuplowski: Welcome to the February edition of Our World. My

name is Mike Kuplowski. Our main focus tonight will be on

pollution. Later on, we will be speaking about pollution from oil

spills, which have recently been in the news, but first we are going

to talk about a type of pollution which many people have not even

heard of. Susan Conroy is the Press Liaison officer for the

Canadian Darker Skies Association and is here tonight to talk to us

about a problem that has been estimated to cost between a

quarter and one third of global energy output. Susan, those figures

can't be correct, can they?

Susan Conroy: Many independent organizations have costed this

phenomenon of light pollution and the figures usually come out in

that area, somewhere between 25 and 35% of total energy costs

are being completely wasted by wasteful or inefficient use of

lighting, especially in the more urbanized areas of the richer

countries of the world. Light pollution is one of the most pervasive

forms of pollution in the modern world and yet it is something that

very few people know much about even though, conversely, it is

the form of pollution that people come into contact with most often

on a daily basis.
Mike Kuplowski: Could you just give us a few ideas of what, in

your mind, constitutes light pollution? I understand one of the

most serious problems is that of light escaping up into the skies

above our cities with the resulting glare preventing us from seeing

all the stars that were once visible.

Susan Conroy: That is what I would term a symptom of the

problem and not necessarily the most serious consequence. I

would recommend your listeners, if they live in what is termed a

built up area, to go outside, after listening to this great program of

course, and to look up into the sky. I would be surprised if any of

them managed to see more than five to ten stars. If they had done

this twenty years ago, then they would be talking about hundreds

and hundreds. This is a problem that is getting worse, the whole

light pollution situation is deteriorating, which means we are

wasting more and more money. If I may, I would like to give you

just a couple of figures which illustrate this light pollution problem

very well.

Mike Kuplowski: Of course, go ahead.

Susan Conroy: The International Dark-Sky Association has

estimated that, here in the USA, 1.5 billion dollars is spent every
year generating electricity for light which is then wasted. That's

the equivalent of about 6.000.000 tons of coal to produce that

electricity, just wasted! The United States' reliance on imports of

oil could be reduced in a matter of months if a few basic

regulations were introduced and enforced.

Mike Kuplowski: What causes this light pollution, Susan? Is it just

badly positioned streetlights that shine up into the sky?

Susan Conroy: Well, that is true, it is a major contributory factor in

all of this. Light pollution is not only light that is shining up into the

sky which blocks out the stars we were just talking about. Light

pollution is also when areas are over-lit, for example, or lighting is

badly designed or badly positioned, which then creates excessive

glare. This can obviously be dangerous if drivers are affected.

Mike Kuplowski: I know so many people are worried about security

and I imagine this is why huge areas of our cities are, in your

words, over-lit.

Susan Conroy: Many studies have shown there is little connection

between lighting and crime. Besides, much of the lighting which is

which strangely enough, actually creates good hiding places for the

very criminals we would like to be protected from.

Mike Kuplowski: So what changes would you like to see

implemented, Susan?

Susan Conroy: There are some very basic things that can be

changed. There needs to be a standard for street lighting which

eliminates completely above-horizontal light escape. By that I

mean we can't continue to use inefficient street lighting equipment

which enables a lot of the light emitted to escape upwards into the

sky. That is the first priority. Next, we need tough restrictions on

how much light is used to illuminate a given area. That way, we

avoid the problem of what is called light trespass, where light

escapes from the area that it is supposed to illuminate and goes,

for instance, into nearby windows or roads.

Mike Kuplowski: It's funny you should mention that. My brother

lives near a parking lot and he says, at night, he doesn't even

need to switch on his kitchen light because the light from the

parking lot lighting is so strong.

problem with security lighting in any number of parking lots,

stores, or even sports centers. But, and this is an important but,

the lighting needs to be suitable and, above all, directed correctly.

We are a becoming a society obsessed with turning night into day

but I can tell you now, not everybody finds this situation

satisfactory.

Mike Kuplowski: Susan, if we can now turn to what we as

individuals can do to lessen the problem or at least not add to it.

This is clearly something in which government and business have a

very big contribution to make, but is there something we can do

ourselves?

Susan Conroy: First of all, I would recommend writing to your local

representatives as this is an issue which needs as much support as

possible. Then, there are things we can do in our own home. If you

use lighting, be it security lighting or lighting for your barbecue in

the garden, just make sure it is well directed, by which I mean

angled downwards, and in that the light source itself, the bulb I

mean, has a good cover on it. If you are using a security light, you

want it to illuminate the area immediately in front of your house

Doing this will not make your house safer! If you want to

illuminate the front of your house for any reason, do it from above

with a light fixture attached to the gutter of your roof for example

and not using a powerful spotlight placed on the lawn in front of

your house. Most of the light in this setup will just go into the sky

and all of the amateur astronomers among you will continue to get

frustrated as you search the sky for stars.

Mike Kuplowski: Well I, for one, have learnt a lot this evening. And

you have given us a lot of food for thought the next time we look

up into an increasingly orange sky at night. Susan Conroy, thanks

for your time tonight.

Susan Conroy: You're welcome