— from James Libby —
A new multi year US Government study of over 10,000 teenagers shows outdoor lighting messes up their sleep and affects them mentally/physically causing disorders that can last throughout life. This is a separate finding that also took into consideration the well known cell phone light health issues.
Let’s not put up lights on Prune Alley or anywhere else until it becomes absolutely necessary. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We can still plan for the future by putting the power where they would go in the future if accidents become a problem, but don’t add the lights yet. Because adding light will be bad for our kids and other studies show it affects adults, too.
Here is a quote from Sandee LaMotte in an article about the study: “(T)eens exposed to higher light levels were more likely to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder or a specific phobia, the study found. There was a racial and social-economic disparity as well, the study found. Levels of nighttime artificial light varied according to factors such as population density and socioeconomic status — teens from immigrant or racial or ethnic minority groups who lived in lower income families were more likely to live in areas with high levels of outdoor light at night.”
Here is the article https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/health/night-light-pollution-disrupt-sleep-wellness/index.html
This isn’t just about esthetics. It’s about not doing damage.
It’s the light from the blue portion of the spectrum which affects sleep. Blue light is included in the emissions from LCD displays and ordinary street lights. That’s why it’s recommended to avoid computer use before going to bed. The proposed dark sky compliant lighting is in the red portion of the spectrum and will not affect sleep. That’s also why most electric alarm clocks have red displays.
The study discussed in the CNN article asked about outdoor lighting without regard to color. Most of the kids were probably exposed to ordinary street lighting.
Light pollution prevents seeing the wonder of a full-starred sky and humanity’s minuscule place in the universe. We should not install street lights until needed, at which point we will have joined the 24 hour urban pace of living that we are here to escape, and others also come to escape, and humanity becomes the only universe we know.
Whether or not the light spectrum has an impact on teenage (or my, for that matter) sleep patterns, it must be avoided at all costs. Light pollution is real.
Jeez, and with all the “expert” input we’re getting nowadays, on such a variety of subjects, (streetlights, air quality, impacts of tourism, housing, resident orca numbers, Covid issues, food, airport expansion, etc.) maybe I should just give up reading altogether, and go back to Common Sense? Dorothy, Toto – are you still out there somewhere?