9 Ways That Light Pollution Harms The World

9 Ways That Light Pollution Harms The World

Light Pollution Is Decimating Sea Turtles

Female turtles looking for a place to lay their eggs won’t do so if the lights are too bright.

If she fails to find a dark spot after several tries, the turtle will resort to suboptimal locations, and the young will have little chance to survive.

It Disrupts The Breeding Cycles Of Amphibians

The photoperiod, which many animals use, is the only constant amphibians have to tell them when it is time to reproduce or hibernate and they are acutely sensitive to it.

It’s Devastating To Bats

Because insects are attracted to artificial light, which some bat species will not enter, bats lose many opportunities to feed.

Thanks to artificial light, many amphibians have demonstrated both physical and behavioral disruptions, including the disruption of their ability to know when to return home and breed.

The situation is made even worse since the areas that the bats are willing to enter contain fewer insects than they normally would.

It Disrupts The Migratory Patterns Of Fish

Studies have demonstrated that street lighting from nearby cities can disrupt migratory patterns of fish.

It Can Damage Trees

Night lighting (especially light along the red to infrared spectrums) effectively extends the day for many plants.

Since angiosperms (flowering plants, including most trees) determine things like dormancy, flowering, and growth based upon the amount of uninterrupted darkness that falls upon them, this can have wide-ranging repercussions, including unsafe periods of non-dormancy.

Migrating Birds Are Lured To Their Deaths

Many species of birds are nocturnal and migratory, dependent on the setting sun, the moon, and the night sky to navigate by.

Bright lights at night can confuse birds into thinking they are flying towards these navigators instead of straight into a building.

Artificial Light And Insects

Artificial lights confuse the cues they use to fly by.

Both normal flight activity and migratory patterns are disrupted, and insects are killed in great numbers by the heat of the lights or by predators who find an easy meal.

It’s Making Our Minds Go Haywire

All living creatures, including humans, have an “internal clock” called the circadian rhythm, which is roughly structured to the natural 24-hour day.

This natural rhythm tells our body many things: when to be wakeful, when to rest, when organs should be more active, when to eat, when to digest, and thousands of other instructions.

Our moods, which are strongly affected by the production of hormones in our body, are also heavily influenced by our circadian cycle.

2 It Can Wreck Our Physical Health As Well

It isn’t just our minds and moods that are at risk—light pollution has become such a pervasive human health issue that the American Medical Association (AMA) recently passed a resolution declaring it responsible for a host of physical problems.

The resolution states that the increased amount of light in the world, including streetlight glare and ambient light “intruding” into windows, has links to breast cancer and depresses immune systems.

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Full article:
https://listverse.com/2014/08/....14/10-ways-that-ligh