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Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and Its Abatement

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Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and Its Abatement Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and its Abatement Special Report of the Journal of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Special Issue “Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and its Abatement” Table of Contents President’s Message . 1 Prologue.............................................................................................. 2 The Eye and Visual System: A Brief Introduction ............................................................. 3 Scotobiology .......................................................................................... 7 Light and Dark and Human Health ....................................................................... 11 Lighting in the Roadway Environment: Aims, Advances, and Alternatives ......................................... 15 LEDs in Outdoor Lighting .............................................................................. 18 International Dark-sky Efforts ............................................................................ 22 Mont-Mégantic First International Dark-Sky Reserve: Achievements And Challenges ............................... 26 Dark-Sky Parks ........................................................................................ 30 President’s Message Welcome to our special supplement report, Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and its Abatement. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) thanks and recognizes the funding support from the Canadian Periodical Fund at Canadian Heritage, which made this report possible. Special appreciation is given to the volunteers led by Robert Dick, Chair of the RASC Light-Pollution Abatement Committee, for their vital contributions. The RASC is Canada’s leading astronomy organization, bringing together more than 4,000 enthusiastic amateurs, educators, and professional members in every province of Canada. Our vision is to inspire curiosity in all people about the Universe, to share scientific knowledge, and to foster collaboration in astronomical pursuits. Through this and future projects, it is our objective to work toward social and legislative change that will result in more responsible lighting practices in Canada; the ultimate goal being to preserve the nighttime environment for all to enjoy. Clear skies, Glenn Hawley, RASC President Editor-in-Chief Design/Production The Journal is a publication of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Jay Anderson Michael Gatto Membership is open to anyone interested in astronomy. 203 – 4920 Dundas St W Email: [email protected] Toronto ON M9A 1B7, Canada The Royal Astronomical Society of Email: [email protected] Advertising Email: [email protected] 203 – 4920 Dundas St W Web site: www.rasc.ca Kate Fane Web site: www.rasc.ca Toronto ON M9A 1B7, Canada Telephone: (416) 924-7973 Email: [email protected] Telephone: (416) 924-7973 Fax: (416) 924-2911 Fax: (416) 924-2911 Printing Canselmdc Production Manager www.cansel.ca This project is supported by Ce projet est financé par le Fonds James Edgar the Canadian Periodical Fund at du Canada pour les périodiques de Email: [email protected] Canadian Publications Mail Canadian Heritage. Patrimoine canadien. Proofreaders Registration No. 09818 James Edgar Canada Post: Email: [email protected] Send address changes to 203 – 4920 Dundas St W, Toronto ON Robert Dick M9A 1B7 Canada We acknowledge the financial support of Email: [email protected] the Government of Canada through the Kate Fane Post Publication Agreement No. 40069313 Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our Cert no. SW-COC-005174 Email: [email protected] publishing activities. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada | Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and its Abatement | December 2012 1 We can draw a lesson from the Roman Empire and the use Prologue – JRASC-LPA of lead wine goblets. The reported lead poisoning may have been a contributing factor to the empire’s decline. Will our – Robert Dick society’s use of ALAN be a similar factor contributing to our Chair RASC LPA Committee decline? One of the main uses for outdoor lighting is for roadway This special issue presents a selection of articles covering a illumination. There is a reason why street lighting is used, few diverse aspects of lighting and light-pollution abatement and Dr. Bullough’s article presents the problem of roadway (LPA) with authoritative summaries. visibility from a practitioner’s standpoint. Changes to roadway One Journal issue is not enough to cover all the information lighting must address these needs, while reducing its adverse that we feel is necessary for a good overview of the subject. impact on the environment. However, due to space constraints, we had to edit both our New luminaires using LEDs are beginning to replace older list of topics and our articles down to fit this issue. We hope fixtures, but these are not a panacea for LP. We hope you the range of topics in this sample will carry you out of your will find the article on LEDs to be an unbiased presentation knowledge comfort zone and expose you to additional issues on solid-state lighting—putting its properties into a more and information. Light Pollution (LP) is not an issue for only general context and highlighting the present pros and cons astronomers—it fundamentally changes the world—for of LEDs. good and ill. A place or region that agrees to reduce sky glow is under Light is used to assist our vision, so understanding our eye is constant pressure to revert to previous practice. Eposodic, critical. Dr. Chou also explains some of the frustrating limits or even continuous effort is needed to maintain the rate of to our visual acuity in the face of LP—especially as we grow improvement as outlined in Giguère’s article. Light pollution older. These exacerbate the impact of LP and reduce the is a challenge for all nations. Dr. Welch provides a global benefits of artificial light at night (ALAN). perspective on the efforts to reduce LP. History, culture, ALAN has more profound impact than the public is aware. economics, and politics all play important roles in how the Scotobiology provides a focus for understanding the biological problem of ALAN can be addressed. and ecological effects of ALAN and helps place these effects Additional information on these and other topics will be into a broader context. added to the RASC Web site (www.rasc.ca/lpa/tech/). It will Our social policies are homocentric, so understanding the not be a compendium of general information—there are impact of ALAN on human health is critical in a debate on many other Web sites for that. Rather we hope this site will how we use light. Some readers may find Dr. Roberts’ article contain novel and authoritative information to increase our on human health quite disturbing. It clearly summarizes understanding of light pollution to support and energize the the reason for our efforts to change the way we use ALAN. debate. Artificial light at night has become a symbol of our affluent society. This image evokes two emotions: one is the impressive display of activity and power, and the other is energy waste and a disregard for the natural night. In reducing light pollution, we must be conscious of both these perspectives (April 2008, R. Dick). The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada | Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and its Abatement | December 2012 2 The Eye and Visual System: Iris Pupil Cornea Posterior Chamber Anterior Chamber (aqueous humour) Zonular Fibres A Brief Introduction Ciliary Muscle – B. Ralph Chou Retina Suspensory Crystalline Ligament Choroid Vitreous Lens Professor Emeritus humour School of Optometry and Vision Science Sclera Hyaloid University of Waterloo Canal 200 University Ave. W, Waterloo ON, Canada N2L 3G1 Optic Disk Abstract Optic Nerve The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to Fovea the structure and function of the human eye and visual system as they relate to discussions around light-pollution Figure 1 – Cross section of a right human eyeball as seen from above. abatement. It will be assumed that a normal adult human This is a cut along the horizontal direction through the fovea. The eye and visual system are being described. optic nerve is on the nasal (left) side of the eyeball. Source: Wikipedia Schematic_diagram_of_the_human_eye_with_English_ Structure of the Eye annotations.svg. Public domain. The adult human eye is a roughly globular organ approximately 25 mm in diameter (Figure 1) with a tough increases, the iris colour ranges from green to hazel outer coat (the sclera) composed of collagen fibres. Blood to shades of brown. vessels (the choroid) line the inside of the sclera along with granules of melanin pigment that act as a light trap for light The crystalline lens accounts for about 1/3 of the refractive transmitted through the sclera. The retina covers the inside power of the eye. The lens absorbs nutrients from the aqueous surface of the choroid and contains the light-sensitive humour and continues to grow slowly throughout life. New photoreceptors and neural cells. A relatively clear avascular lens fibres grow parallel to the lens capsule, extending radially gel (the vitreous humour) fills the spherical interior to along the front and back surfaces to meet other lens fibres maintain the eyeball’s shape. along the optical axis of the lens. The intersections of the lens fibres are where early cortical cataracts may sometimes Light enters the eye through the transparent cornea. be observed in older individuals. The cornea is approximately 12 mm in diameter and is a complex structure
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