Light Pollution

Milky Way in Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Turning Out the Lights on Light Pollution

Limiting light pollution can have beneficial effects for humans, animals, and the local economy.

December 5, 2023 - Smart Cities Dive

View of dark night sky with visible Milky Way over dark forest.

The Importance of Dark Skies

Why light pollution harms humans and the environment.

October 11, 2023 - The Daily Yonder

Nighttime view of U.S. Capitol and blurred traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue

D.C. Residents Fight Light Pollution

New LED lighting has raised concerns about the health and environmental impacts of excessive or harsh lighting.

May 30, 2023 - Route Fifty

Pittsburgh at Night

Pittsburgh Becomes First 'Dark Sky' City in Eastern U.S.

As evidence showing the benefits of dark skies builds, Pittsburgh becomes the first eastern American city to enact a dark sky policy.

December 29, 2021 - Bloomberg CityLab

Nighttime Skyline

LEDs, Downward Lights Changing the Night in Chicago

The nighttime illumination of Chicago is almost finished with a complete overhaul of its streetlights, producing a dramatic effect in the nighttime environment of the city.

January 3, 2020 - Chicago Tribune

Beacon

How the Lights in Our Cities Became Too Bright

“Why are lighting designers and experts nearly unified in their belief that outdoor lighting in past years has been excessive?”

May 7, 2018 - Metropolis Magazine

Gangnam, Seoul, Korea

Cities Try to Turn on the Dark

Of all the inventions of the modern world, few have been so embraced as artificial light. But constant light, like that which floods city streets and illuminates buildings, is not necessarily healthy or safe. Some cities are trying to go dark.

May 3, 2015 - The Architect's Newspaper

Dusk High Rises

Designing the Shadow-less Skyscraper

Architects at NBBJ in London have designed a building—two buildings rather—that work together to cancel out the shadows they cast.

March 28, 2015 - Wired

Friday Night Lights: NASA Can See Your Holiday Lights from Space

One of the first things researchers noticed when nighttime images from the Suomi NPP satellite were beamed back to Earth: the planet's ambient lighting changes drastically during certain holidays, like Christmas and Ramadan.

December 19, 2014 - Vox

Keeping Cities in the Dark

There's a third dimension to sprawl: all those photons that emanate from street lights, houses, and vehicles. As author Paul Bogard discusses in The End of Night, light pollution is an overlooked menace that presents a new frontier for planners.

October 16, 2014 - California Planning & Development Report

How LEDs Re-Illuminate the Urban Night Sky

Forbes Magazine reflects on the importance and impacts of light-emitting diode (LED) lights as more cities replace their traditional streetlamps with LEDs.

September 19, 2014 - Forbes Magazine

Chicago Lighting Proposal Would Turn the Wattage Up

As part of an initiative called Choose Chicago, meant to boost the city's draw for tourists, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pursuing a plan to light the city up

June 5, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

Light Pollution in Rural Virginia: A Photo Essay

The End of Night author Paul Bogard works with photography student Jennifer Tremblay to showcase light pollution in the Shenandoah Valley town of Harrisonburg.

August 11, 2013 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environments

Artist Envisions the Elusive Pleasures of Urban Stargazing

Unless a catastrophic natural disaster strikes your city (we're not hoping it does), the chances of being able to gaze upon the wonders of the cosmos from an urban perch are slim. Thierry Cohen provides a glimpse of the night sky without pollution.

February 4, 2013 - The New York Times

Sustainability Over Tradition as Paris Turns Out the Lights

France's Environment Ministry has decreed that as of July, all shops and offices in the country will be required to shut off their lights at night in order to save energy and “reduce the print of artificial lighting on the nocturnal environment.”

January 31, 2013 - The New York Times

Turning off the Lights to See the Stars

A movement to shed light on the worldwide loss of dark skies aims to minimize light pollution in order to increase public opportunities for stargazing, while also serving as a money-saving measure for cities, reports Kate Galbraith.

October 18, 2012 - The New York Times

Preserving Darkness

France is hoping to establish a "darkness reserve" by regulating street lighting in towns and villages near a mountaintop observatory.

April 6, 2009 - Discovery

Urban Light Affecting Animal Behavior

Light reflecting from streets and glass buildings in cities have been found in a recent study to disrupt animal behavior.

January 25, 2009 - BBC

New York City's Glow Dims

With rising energy prices, lights are dimming in New York City. Legislation in the state seeks to reduce the city's glow even more.

November 3, 2008 - The New York Times

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