Do you remember, as a child, seeing the Milky Way from your own neighborhood?
Why Dark Skies matter is we have lost this ability to appreciate our night sky so gradually that many of us may have forgotten we ever could. … Or rather, we’ve been robbed of it by light pollution.
That said, conserving and restoring the night sky isn’t a cause for stargazers alone. Beyond being a source of solace, beauty, and spiritual inspiration, the nighttime environment has immeasurable value to public health, as well as Colorado’s nocturnal wildlife and ecosystems.
Wildlife and Ecosystems
The night sky plays a key role in virtually every domain of environmental conservation.
80 percent of migratory birds travel by night and rely on natural conditions of darkness to navigate. Some species even rely on starlight to aid orientation and navigation. Insects, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and even plant life take cues from the natural rhythms of day and night. This influences growth, hunting, pollination, foraging, and mating.
Animals and plants possess forms of intuition that ensure their reproduction and survival. That intuition is often guided by the natural cycles of light and darkness. The sun and moon are like conductors in a beautiful symphony far beyond our imagination. Call it poetic, but it’s also grounded in science.
The night sky is indispensable to the well being and survival of wildlife — especially migratory birds — and to maintaining the nuanced balance of Colorado’s rich and beautiful ecosystems.
Public Health and Well-Being
The way the natural arc of day and night synchronizes our behavior and benefits our health is incredibly strange and beautiful.
The sun greets us each morning with energizing, blue spectrum light. If you are an artist, a nature lover, or just a keen observer, you probably know that the morning sky appears cooler than the afternoon sky. That short wavelength light signals our bodies to release healthy levels of cortisol and other hormones to help us awaken.
As the day progresses, the sun’s wavelengths grow longer. This literally makes it appear warmer to the human eye. This is the reason you can sometimes look at a good landscape painting and intuitively sense whether it was painted in the morning or the afternoon, even if you’ve never studied art. The warm, red light of the afternoon and evening is sedating. It signals our bodies to release melatonin, a hormone that plays a key role in our sleep.
As long as that cycle is allowed to unfold, we are likely to sleep well and awake feeling rested. (Of course, there are caveats like caring for a newborn or working night shifts.)
The relationship between artificial light at night (ALAN) and melatonin, as well as the health effects of melatonin suppression, have been extensively studied. More research is needed on outdoor ALAN specifically, but we do have a firm, general understanding of the harmful effects of excessive ALAN on human health. A growing body of research has linked artificial light at night (especially blue light from screens and LEDs) to a variety of negative health outcomes.
Cultural Heritage, Enjoyment, and Scientific Inquiry
People across generations, cultures, and continents have bonded under the beauty and solace of the night sky.
We all need to feel wonder. Stargazing fills that need nicely. It diminishes the weight of political squabbles, unopened work emails, and social comparison.
The Night Sky Belongs to Each of Us
Please don’t take our word for it. If you haven’t looked up at the night sky in a while, try and find a relatively dark, safe spot to do so. It is effortlessly uplifting, reassuring, and free.
The discipline of astronomy, which depends on the night sky, has also made major contributions to more self-evidently practical fields like medicine, aerospace, structural engineering, and energy. Astronomy also has the potential to help us avert catastrophe, as any movie buff can appreciate.
And yet, as the International Astronomical Union points out, “perhaps the most important aspect of astronomy is not one of economical measure.”
“In the past, astronomy has been used to measure time, mark the seasons, and navigate the vast oceans. As one of the oldest sciences, astronomy is part of every culture’s history and roots. It inspires us with beautiful images and promises answers to the big questions. It acts as a window into the immense size and complexity of space, putting Earth into perspective and promoting global citizenship and pride in our home planet.”
Light Pollution is Reversible
If we preserve the night sky, our children’s children will delight in the seasonal chorus of migratory birds. Families 100 years from now will bond under the stars. They’ll know the wonder that is every human’s birthright. And in the meantime, that source of wonder will remain available to each of us in this lifetime.
That’s why our work at DarkSky Colorado matters.
Carpe noctem | Seize the night.
© 2024- DarkSky Colorado | Privacy Policy | Contact Us