Publication: Astronomy Now
Bring back our dark skies
My contributions to science magazines have included a major feature for the UK journal Astronomy Now looking at the astronomer's battle with the problems of light pollution. The following is just an excerpt.
An international conference on the island of La Palma recently declared that everyone has a right to enjoy a dark night sky.
The April meeting, backed by UNESCO and the International Astronomical Union, concluded with the publication of the StarLight Declaration, which states, “An unpolluted night sky that allows the enjoyment and contemplation of the firmament should be considered an inalienable right.”It further demands that control of obtrusive light “must be a basic element of nature conservation policies since they impact on several species, habitats, ecosystems, and landscapes”.
The fact is that light pollution is nearly as big a problem as the weather in preventing amateur astronomers from following their hobby. But there are many people and agencies involved, from the Campaign for Dark Skies to environment groups and local councils.
The campaigner
Leading the battle against light pollution in the UK is Bob Mizon, who spends days touring schools presenting mobile planetarium shows to promote astronomy and has run the Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS) under the wings of the British Astronomical Association since 1989. He believes the campaign has already been very effective but that astronomers face changing challenges.
“During the Sixties, lots of deep-bowl lights were put along Britain’s roads and that is why we are used to seeing light pollution as an orange glow. Over the last ten years the road light situation has got slightly better because new lights shine directly downwards,” he explains. “The trouble is that we are also seeing huge numbers of some really terrible lights, for example golf driving ranges, security lights and building floodlights. The road lighting seems to be going the right way and every other light problem the wrong way.”
He also condemns the trend for homeowners to put up brilliant, so-called security lights, pointing out that some 500 watt security lights outside people’s homes are about half as bright as the brightest lighthouse in Britain, Longstone lighthouse in the Farne Islands. The lighthouse is designed to be visible from 30 or 40 miles away. “So people are basically lighting their ten foot long drives and little gardens with a lighthouse!”
How effective does Bob Mizon believe the CfDS has been since it was set up 18 years ago? “It has been locally quite effective and in other places completely ineffective,” he confesses. “It depends where you live. I can stand in my back garden at Wimborne in Dorset and I can see a better night sky than I saw in 1982 when I moved in because my council is using all the good stuff. But you can go to a different part of the country, for example somewhere near Felixstowe Docks, and the lights have got worse and worse over the years. We are having a scattergun effect, if you like.”
Mizon says the campaign’s major successes have included persuading the Highways Agency to improve lighting on all main roads and working with the Campaign to Protect Rural England to produce light-pollution maps for different parts of the country.
“We want the sky to be recognized, quite simply, as a site of special scientific interest and an area of natural beauty. If only the Government would officially admit this, then they might give it a bit more protection. The Czech Republic has a law to protect the sky and we should have one too.”
Mizon believes the CfDS will continue to improve our night skies in the future. “The thing that causes me to be optimistic is that when this started in 1989, ask anyone what [they thought] light pollution was and they wouldn’t know. They’d think it was the opposite of heavy pollution. Now, when I visit schools, I talk to five-year-olds and I ask them why they can’t see the stars from where they live. One clever kid might stick his hand up and say ‘clouds’, but another kid will say ‘light pollution’. Kids know about it. Everyone knows about it and it is also much easier to convince people that they should be saving energy.
“I don’t think the campaign will prevail completely, you’ll never eradicate all skyglow, but I think we will have an effect in the future.”
