For thousands of years, mankind has been inspired by the night sky — a sky that we are slowly losing due to the proliferation of electric lighting. Released on Friday, the detailed New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness reveals how light pollution is contaminating our dark nights and erasing the stars from view for hundreds of thousands around the globe.
"Twenty years ago, light pollution could be considered only a problem for astronomers. But fundamentally, life has evolved over millions of years with half the time dark and half the time light, and we have now enveloped our planet in a luminous fog of light. Light pollution has become a real environmental problem on a global scale," the atlas' lead author Fabio Falchi said.
According to the report, more than a third of the people living on the planet cannot see the Milky Way where they live due to light pollution, Scientific American reports. For Americans, it's even worse — four out of every five people can't see the silver band of our galaxy when the sun sets. In places like Singapore, South Korea, and Qatar, light pollution is so bad that people can hardly see any stars at all.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are still regions of darkness on our planet — though they are steadily vanishing. Some of the friendliest regions to stargazers include Chad, Papua New Guinea, and Madagascar.
"Our civilization's religion, philosophy, science, art and literature all have roots with our views of the heavens, and we are now losing this with consequences we cannot fully know," Falchi said. "What happens when we cannot be inspired by the night sky?"
-
DOJ targets ‘disparate impact’ avenues of discrimination protectionsIN THE SPOTLIGHT By focusing solely on ‘intentional discrimination,’ the Justice Department risks allowing more subtle forms of bias to proliferate
-
‘Consistency at the ballot box isn’t nearly as meaningful to many voters here’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
8 musicals to see this winter, all across the United Statesthe week recommends New shows and reconsidered productions are on the move
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
-
Australia weighs new gun laws after antisemitic attackSpeed Read A father and son opened fire on Jewish families at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 15
-
How Bulgaria's government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Benin thwarts coup attemptSpeed Read President Patrice Talon condemned an attempted coup that was foiled by the West African country’s army
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
UN Security Council backs Trump’s Gaza peace planSpeed Read The United Nations voted 13-0 to endorse President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza
