Light Pollution

In light (no pun intended) of the last post not enough darkness it was quite suprising to see more stories on the subject of light pollution filter into my news-stream, from the effect on cougars hunting in the western US to reduced pollination, affected sleep cycles and more. Although the dark sky movement has been going for a long time and reading through its site you can find out about the effects of light pollution on animals and humans, energy waste and more I guess we need people to stop being afraid of the dark but it would seem there could be a push to make artificial light a form of environmental pollution the same as other forms that we naturally consider to be pollution. For me this can only be a good thing, as i mentioned in my earlier post the benefits of simply turning the lights off could be immense.

A really good way of visualising how much light there really is in the world at night you can visit https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ and generate a map like;

But another interesting site i found is https://www.underluckystars.com/if-light-pollution-cleared just look at how the cities could be if we eliminated light pollution;

I love the dark, as i said there isnt enough of it and i really hope light pollution becomes a classified form of pollution worthy of action/sanctions.

consumption

So back to consumption - we have oft been warned of power shortages even as recently as Oct2020 with this tweet from the National Grid

OK this is quite normal, regular even, with the NG releasing & removing EMN ¹ warnings but if we’re doing this with current demands imagine us all charging cars/transport as well as watching TV, putting the kettle on and yes turning the damn lights on everywhere. So its no surprise to see things such as

Electric cars may be perfect for people with off-street parking and a home wallbox fast charger, but a new set of rules being mulled over by the energy watchdog, Ofgem, could see power cut to EVs if the electricity network requires it during times of high demand.

being considered². Can you conceive the idea that as of today we all switch to electric cars, you’re nice and comfy at home safe in the knowledge your fancy car is being charged and then when you come to use it you find hmmm its not charged enough to get you to your destination because the country needed to stop cars from charging to power hospitals, kettles, industry. The push to electric is short sighted, there is no doubt we need to consider the environment, global warming and our impact on it but simply to pretend moving to electric cars will be the end-all saviour is a fallacy. Myopic even.

So governments across the world should be targeting light pollution not just as a way of helping nature which we must do but also to mitigate and reduce consumption of electricity.

renewables

Finally renewables - the push for renewable whilst admirable in its aim to save the planet may again be again be short sighted especially if we cannot reduce our consumption. It is inconcievable to me that the massive solar farms i see appearing everywhere have zero impact, it maybe that in our rush forwards we ignore any warnings or fail to consider the long term impact much like the rush towards oil instead of coal. Where given our knowledge of past unforseen impacts on the world is our assessment of the renewable immpact or have we simply considered it a price worth paying? is the world simply doomed because we cannot change?

Oh and i am aware of the irony, i work in the automotive industry, i run my own server, home monitoring system, drive a car, ride a bike but i do try to do my bit by monitoring usage, reducing consumption and not buying things for single use purposes. Creating a nature friendly garden and trying to be as green as possible. I dont have answers, its a difficult question. How do you change the mindset of a global population to save the planet?

Maybe by taking the easy decisions first, turn off the lights.