Light Pollution Article

[senua]

Interesting article I came across:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4794249.stm

[Tormentil]

There is a lot of energy wasted by having street lights on all night.

They used to be switched off at 12.30am - ish.

[Beryl]

I agree. Far too much light polution, one can no longer see the stars eccept the really bright ones and yes a great deal of energy is wasted.

[nightshade]

Most street lighting as you say is very wasteful,the lights I dislike most are the PIR
type that peek over fences or cover the front yards of houses situated on dark
country roads and snap on 500 watts unexpectedly as you drive toward them

[speckled wood]

Something I really notice is that on an overcast night you can actually see better on a clear night, simply down to the street lights reflected back down from the clouds. Doing much of my wanderings after dark the terrible and pointless waste of energy is obvious to me.

An experiment worth trying if you have a digital camera with a long exposure setting (ie 15 seconds or more) is to set it on some firm support at the longest exposure setting and a wide apature and take a few shots. if you are even withing five miles of a town or village with streetlights you will probably still have enough light to take a picture that looks almost as if it was taken in daylight.

[Alan]

That's nothing! Aparently they've got the go ahead to light-up the Humber Bridge! They're going to festoon it like a christmas tree just so it will look nice! How lovely!!!!!

All this despite calls from environmentalists/conservationists that it may severly affect passing migrants and such like. The mind boggles! What a waste, so much for being green..

I'd like to take all the councilors up the Bridge and show them how birds fly

[speckled wood]

On another note we are just three months away from yet another light pollution "spree", namely that of people festooning their abodes with a severe excess of christmas lights. One of my neighbours does this every year for six weeks with weekly electricty bills in excess of £20.

[Tormentil]

Originally Posted by Alan

That's nothing! Aparently they've got the go ahead to light-up the Humber Bridge! They're going to festoon it like a christmas tree just so it will look nice! How lovely!!!!!

All this despite calls from environmentalists/conservationists that it may severly affect passing migrants and such like. The mind boggles! What a waste, so much for being green..

I'd like to take all the councilors up the Bridge and show them how birds fly

I thought that that idea had been scuppered.

Has it raised its ugly head again !!

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Tormentil

I thought that that idea had been scuppered.

Has it raised its ugly head again !!

If it has been scuppered......good! I haven't heard anything for a while Tromentil..

[Tormentil]

There was a trial in 1999 and another in May 2005.

Here's what the LWT reported.....

Threat to wildlife from Humber Bridge lights

I'm not sure what the current situation is, though.