Artificial light the 'signature' of modernity

A common scene in modern towns and cities -
modernity has given us light, but
threatens our well-being and the of other species.

Fossil fuelled electric light might well be the signature of modernity.

Most everything about peoples’ lives changed when the gloom in which they had lived for some 200 000 years vanished with the flick of a switch.

And while the disappearance of darkness brought to an end the many human activities precluded by the failing light, the resultant artificial light brought an unintended consequence; the absence of night is making us sick and threatening the well-being of many species.

Throughout history, humans have gathered in the dark to marvel at the starry blanket overhead. Nowadays, artificial light pollution obscures the night sky in much of the industrial world—which could lead to unforeseen consequences for the environment and for human health.

Read the Yes! story - “The End of Night: Why We Need Darkness In the Age of Artificial Light.”