Skip to content

Health

Shedding light on an environmental problem

by John Dean 16 Dec 2010
Shedding light on an environmental problem

A study by American-based scientists has shown that lighting at night can contribute to air pollution in urban areas.

Research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado shows that outdoor lighting that contributes to 'sky glow' over cities interferes with chemical reactions that clean the air.

The findings, presented at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, said that every night chemicals from vehicle exhaust and other human created sources are broken down and prevented from becoming smog, ozone and other irritants by a form of nitrogen oxide called the nitrate radical.

Sunlight destroys the radical so this process occurs at night. However, measurements taken over Los Angeles showed that light pollution from cities suppresses the radical.

The research revealed that city lights can slow down the nighttime cleansing by up to 7% and increase the starting chemicals for ozone pollution the next day by up to 5%.

The findings have been welcomed by the International Dark-Sky Association, which is raising awareness about light pollution.

Executive Director Bob Parks said he hoped the research would encourage cities to make changes in outdoor lighting.

He said: ''The impending transition to LED outdoor lighting will allow cities to take advantage of new technologies like adaptive lighting controls. This technology will allow them to reduce lighting levels after midnight or turn off lights that are not needed. Not only will this vastly reduce energy consumption, based on this new research, it could also improve air quality.''


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Prev Post
Next Post

Eco-Friendly Shop

Women's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Women Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable women’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Men's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Men Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable men’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Kids Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothes for Kids Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable kids clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies and jumpers. Our garments...
Shop Now
Someone recently bought a
[time] ago, from [location]

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Earth Times
Sign up for exclusive updates, new arrivals & insider only discounts

Recently Viewed

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Before you leave...

Take 20% off your first order

20% off

Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order

CODESALE20

Continue Shopping