Seeing stars in the world is no longer possible for almost 80 percent of the American population and 60 percent of Europe. You can perhaps see an "artificial glow", but not the rest of the stars. In an unfortunate effect of modernisation, electricity seems to have drowned out the "natural luminosity" of the Milk Way, according to a new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness.
This is a "cultural loss of unprecedented magnitude," said lead author Fabio Falchi of the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute in Italy.
"Humanity has enveloped our planet in a luminous fog that prevents most of Earth's population from having the opportunity to observe our galaxy," the study author wrote. He pointed out that modern lighting has made it impossible for 77 percent of people in U.K. to see the Milky Way. In China, the situation is grimmer. Only people in a few areas such as central Scotland, Corsica, or central Spain are privileged to live in non-polluted environments.
This is a form of pollution that can even cause damage to local ecosystems, human health and raise unnecessary energy costs.
Scientists gathered data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, and combined it with computer models of sky luminescence, as well as field studies of sky brightness collected from professionals as well as the public. It has taken a decade of meticulous work for scientists to collect the information and verify it with over 30,000 on-the-ground measurements.
"It's really one of the most thorough studies that we have to date on light pollution across the globe," said Cheryl Ann Bishop, communications director for the International Dark-Sky Association, which fights pollution. "The fact that we're bathing our planet in artificial light at night is a relatively new phenomenon, and it's essentially akin to a human experiment that we're only just beginning to understand the ramifications of."
You can find more details in this interactive online map hosted by the University of Colorado, Boulder. Another printed book will be released through Amazon and CreateSpace, called "The World Atlas of Light Pollution" that will create a document of the information that has been gathered.
Light pollution
Global Atlas shows artificial night sky brightness.
Fabio Falchi/E-T AL/AAAS
