The Strange Scourge of Light Pollution

[@pompey333]

I did a research project back in 2010 in high school and everyone thought i was crazy for picking that as a pollution to study in environmental studies

[@winwinnie4905]

i'm doing a high school research project on this in 2021 omg

[@basketballjones6782]

They probably would have rather you pick something unprovable, inaccurate, and just down right false like human-caused global warming rather than an obvious, factual, easily proven issue like severe light pollution.

[@luckynater]

going to a dark place on earth to observe the milky way is on the top of my bucket list.

[@CockatooDude]

+luckynater Bring a decent telescope, all the cool globular clusters and nebula are in the Milky Way.

[@JorgeL721]

+luckynater Aren't we in the milky way?

[@CockatooDude]

+JorgeL721 Yes, however we are towards the edge, if you look towards the center then you can see a lot of the objects that are in our galaxy. Pretty much all stars, nebula, Open clusters, and globular clusters visible to amateur astronomers are inside the Milky Way.

[@DylanBobeck]

Were about 25,000 light years away from the center.

[@z.deutch1334]

PGT Films, nah no need to go that far. Even along Australia's coast, like Jervis Bay near Hyams Beach on the furthest points on a cloudless, clear night you can see the Milky Way. It is a spectacularly beautiful sight. Beats any light show on earth

[@AwsomeLorenzo]

I remember when I took the bus from California to Texas. On the way there we were passing through New Mexico at night and it was beautiful to see all of the stars in the sky. I will never forget seeing all of those stars.

[@SovereignwindVODs]

Man this episode reminds me of when my family used to go up to Maine frequently to visit my grandparents. They lived in a pretty small town and in a backwoods section of it to boot. One of the first things we would do when we arrived, since we typically arrived after dark, was turn off the exterior lighting and just look up at the sky for a bit. Absolutely stunning.

[@lewisnorth1188]

It's a perfectly clear tonight, and I can see the moon and some stars, that have a fair amount of space between them. But if I drive for half an hour, I can see the milky way, millions of stars and even Aurora borealis sometimes. Light pollution is so annoying.

[@davidkelley5382]

5 years ago? Never mind…

[@lewisnorth1188]

@@davidkelley5382 ?

[@davidkelley5382]

@@lewisnorth1188 if you must know, it’s thousands of stars. The # of stars that can be seen in the night sky with the unaided Mark I eyeball 👁. It was petty to start with & after 5 years…seemed even more petty. Sorry to drag ya back here. Peace

[@thejerrymobile]

The troublesome part is that, as a seasonal allergy sufferer, I pretty much need to become nocturnal given that the air is toxic with pollen and spores during the day. My options are a) mess with my circadian rhythm by manipulating my light stimuli, or b) abandon my career path to become an astronomer. :P

[@GeorgePerakis]

I'd go with B, and you'd probably make more money as an astrophysicist.

[@piranha031091]

George Perakis No, you likely wouldn't. But I'd still go with it. Because it is an awesome job.

[@GeorgePerakis]

piranha031091 Yes, yes it is.

[@Beer_Dad1975]

George Perakis Nah, unless you have the ability to span professional and public interests like Dr DeGrass Tyson, there is bugger all money in astronomy or astrophysics - from what I've seen if you are good/lucky enough to get tenure you might scratch $70,000 or $80,000 a year, and maybe you could go on to a management position earning up to twice that, but it's surprisingly competitive and quite hard to progress your career unless you are brilliant, so the reality is you probably won't earn as much as a junior accountant. Most scientists are pretty poorly paid sadly. I'm way too stupid to be a physicist, but I earn more than most of them ever will, and that's really sad because as well as being super smart, most of them probably work harder than me and contribute a lot more to human achievement than I ever could.

[@thejerrymobile]

***** I take several in fact, but I'm sure you were well-meaning in your recommendation.

[@jasonneu81]

THIS is why I've been saying for years now that we need an international Milky Way day where we all turn of our lights so everyone can appreciate the unimpeded awe inspiring beauty of the Milky Way galaxy's spinninng arms in the night sky :D

[@Bzz637]

+Jason Neu we are in one of the arms you idiot therefore you cant see the milky ways arms spinning dumbass

[@daniellbondad6670]

I had the same idea!Cool idea right.Who else agrees?!

[@namibjDerEchte]

+Jason Neu Like! Please push that.

[@jasonneu81]

namibjDerEchte Yeah it'd be awesome. Wait, are you german too :P ?

[@namibjDerEchte]

***** Yeo, zwischen Düsseldorf und Dortmund, in einer gemäßigten "Insel". MAn muss ja gar nicht mal so weit gehen, es reicht ja in einer klaren NAcht alle Straßenlaternen einer Stadt (10km radius) per rundsteuerimpuls oder wie die geschaltet werden auszuschalten, sopwie in der Zeitung das ganze anzukündigen. So wie: "wenn die straßenlaternen alle ausgehen, der himmel klar ist und du noch strom hast, bitte bis die straßenlaternen wieder angehen alles an außenbeleuchtung abschalten, damit sie und ihre mitmenschen ohne eine Reise in die wüste die schönheit der natur bewundern können.

[@juststeveschannel]

I've always found light to be one of the most frustrating kinds of pollution, because it seems like it would be so easy to reduce it so greatly, but people don't see it as a problem.,,largely because we still fear the dark.

[@DragoniteSpam]

Forget the Milky Way, I can see all of like ten stars outside at night. On a good night. Grr.

[@freya5902]

I grew up in rural Manitoba, Canada, spending most of my life even farther north in remote land, and my boyfriend has rarely left Lima. I remember how in awe he was about seeing the sky when we traveled outside of Lima, his reaction was beautiful. Everyone in a city needs to know what the night sky looks like.

[@chefkendranguyen]

I have never even heard of light pollution. Very, very interesting. Good episode, Hank.

[@killerassassinx5x]

One of these days, I just wanna see what happens of every light in the world goes out.

[@AmphiptereSiX]

I'm not sure if that would spell much good... but it would be an amazing sight indeed.

[@CalvinHodgson]

If hackers have their way, then yes, we can see the night sky… and have no running power.

[@abbyshort1185]

Ok hacker, if you are going to do this be able to control if it also affect things that will kill us by not having power such as nuclear power places.

[@Plankensen]

lots of dead people

[@nickromo8195]

@@abbyshort1185 and hospitals.. Most have generators but they don't work forever

[@olufemijolugbo8704]

i love the way you deliver complex topics into easily understandable form

[@elizabethshaw734]

When I lived in Morocco we would go many miles outside the city and get out of the car. I'll never forget the first time I looked up at the sky and it looked like an inverted bowl of diamonds on a black velvet cloth! It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw and I have never seen it like that again since moving back to America.

[@LauraDFTBA]

0:12 "All hail the mighty Glow Cloud."

[@Half_Centaur]

I was all ready to educate the world about my old home, Flagstaff, AZ,being the first city in the world to regulate light pollution and Hank beat me to the punch at the end of the video. Good on ya, Hank!

[@statehuman]

I've only seen the Milky Way galaxy when I was a kid. It's probably been years since I saw it last. It's saddening and I miss it. I'd like to be reminded of the feeling I get when I see it. I agree with Tyson when he says, "It's a kind of resetting of your ego..."

[@VIofSpades]

thank you so so so much for making this video! (as a frustrated astronomer) i cannot stress how important it is that more people are aware of the issues with light pollution; if any landscape designers or architects are reading this i implore you to consider slightly more shielded lighting options :)

[@GJawer1]

Thank you, Hank, for posting this video. I volunteer for the Dark Skies Association and even got the Washington Kids Post to write an article on it. THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING THIS PROBLEM!!!

[@sortedsortof3474]

One of your best shows (if not THE best). I never knew all the ramifications of all the light. I have always been frustrated at not being able to see the stars but now I see that it is much more.

[@deeliriyum]

Silvery cloud in the sky... Jesus Christ... I wouldn't worry much about light pollution. Stupidity will get us sooner.

[@Jesusisyhwh]

I love it when it is pitch black out and I can see the stars even more clearly.

[@ArkhBaegor]

About the Eiffel tower: It doesn't stay on, it turns of at 1 in the winter and 2 in the summer.

[@paulrose8694]

Yeah and his point was, it uses old bulky technology, just like the Golden Gate Bridge and it isn't as spectacular as it once was.

[@DeathLeftHid]

whenever i go camping in mississippi, we all go to the middle of an 80 acre field and just look at the stars because it is just so dark. it is really breathe taking.

[@Mtaalas]

We really have to stop polluting. Even in light... damn! Why we need light 24/7... let's just turn lights off or halve the lights on after certain hours and based on the season... yes? We could also design a lot better lightning to the streets. Many street laps are way, way too bright and shouldn't need to be so bright.

[@23cokebottles]

1) people don't know 2) people don't care. Almost every single person I know IRL doesn't give a shit about astronomy* or insects or bats, they only care about their own security. But only if they don't have to work for it.

[@GelidGanef]

23cokebottles *astronomy

[@Gheiter]

23cokebottles I do believe you meant to say "astronomy". Not astrology, which is the belief that there is a relationship with astronomical phenomena and your luck. Should not be mixed up. :p

[@Groaznic]

23cokebottles Same here, man, unfortunately it's really like the guy said in IT Crowd, "I've seen enough of them... people... what a bunch of bastards."

[@boredninja12]

It will matter to the friends once it starts affecting humans on a massive scale. Also cancer. No one wants it.

[@WyreWizard]

I remember back in 2005 after Hurricane Wilma hit us. Later that night, the small airport next door had no power and thus no lights. I remember seeing the night time horizon behind it and seeing the brightly lit night sky, brightly lit by stars and celestial objects instead of street lights. It was beautiful.

[@kobewankenobi8926]

That is just sad. They can't even recognize the milky way.

[@LDH__]

Thank you for making this episode! I am doing my senior thesis on Ecological light pollution and this hit on all of my main points! SciShow you rock!!!

[@gibsos00]

My town in the UK switches off all the street lights in the suburbs from midnight until 6am. It has proved to be wonderful for seeing the night sky and has had no effect on local crime. The town lights have been changed for ones that are highly efficient and also shine only down, strangely many older lamps shed light everywhere. This has saved our town much needed cash, saved lamp maintenance and reduced our carbon footprint. Win-win.

[@VideoNozoki]

I think I'm a moth. ---------------------------- A guy walks into a dentist's office and says, "I think I'm a moth." The dentist replies "You shouldn't be here. You should be seeing a psychiatrist..." The guys replies, "I am seeing a psychiatrist." The dentist says, "Well then what are you doing here?" And the guy says, "Your light was on."

[@KILLRXNOEVIRUS]

Okay.

[@sebas11tian]

I love how you guys include the sources. This is one of the few channels that includes ncbi links in the description. Thanks to those who make it possible :D

[@Sentinalh]

This reminds me of that episode of Hey Arnold when he got the entire city to turn off all their lights so he could see Halley's Comet pass by.

[@karlzone2]

Cute how it went full circle at the end. Good video.

[@Trucker_Josh]

I love these! Thanks for making them!

[@ExplodingDarth]

These names related to light pollution are on point.

[@Axioanarchist]

I always find it funny how we're supposed to be made sleepy by darkness triggering melatonin releases, but I've always been a night owl more energized by nighttime than relaxed.

[@Axioanarchist]

Extreme Streamers i'm 31.

[@xGSFxGoat]

I remember when I visited Sedona, Arizona and they also had a dark-sky policy. They use a lot of traffic circles to reduce the number of traffic and street lights, and the design of any necessary exterior light is better designed so it aims 90% of the light downwards to the ground. It worked pretty well because you could see a lot more stars (not all of them like you would if you outside of the city, however).

[@CalvinCai_Frisbee]

I want to see Milky Way! Turn off your lights!

[@MrDoctorBrainiac]

Or just go camping

[@Sparky16]

BrainDoc Even campgrounds now a days are being lit up like cities. The last few I've been to have been like that. It's annoying.

[@PeterJavi]

Find your nearest desert, pack for a cold night, wait until the sun goes down. Enjoy

[@Sparky16]

Sadly, no nearby deserts for me. Those a whole province away (and more than a 4 day drive, yuck.) One of these days I'll be lucky enough. One of these days :3

[@audreyfischer]

Peter Javi Turns out that thousands of frac mining operations are destroying pristine starry night skies-- take a look at North Dakota for a perfect example-- and there are many examples. Frac sand mining stole the Milky Way right away from the #1 favorite state park in Illinois. Bright white LED streetlights can increase municipal light pollution by 500%. e-billboards are popping up along scenic byways. Light pollution from urban sprawl degrades the skies for hundreds of miles. The National Park Service predicts by 2025, 90% of people in America will NEVER see a starry night sky even once in their entire lifetime. Please start enjoying the skies while you have the chance. Record your stories and photographs. Share them with your grandchildren. This is all that future generations will have left. . . unless they are wealthy enough -- or determined enough to travel to other parts of the world. unless WE decide to get our act together and end light pollution.

[@osmiumsoul9535]

I live in Michigan, and every summer we go to the tip of the Keweenaw peninsula, darkest night sky east of the Mississippi if im not mistaken, not to mention its overlooking lake superior. Amazing.

[@damon571]

I live in flagstaff! WOOT WOOT!

[@jimkeller3868]

Then you know full well the effects of light pollution

[@fatherdoctor]

It is so hearthwarming seeing illustration created by fellow hungarian.... talent knows no borders... Thank you Szabolcs Kókay to put us on the map (at least in scshow) and thank you Hank for using it :)

[@YsCelia]

This episode was really good, very informative and long too. Me like.

[@xCaptainChloex]

I absolutely hate how many lights we all use for nothing and very sad about light pollution, yet I'm working at one of the brightest places of my city - the ferris wheel. That logic tho My dream is to see the perfect night sky🥺

[@gucci8364]

The Galaxy is beautiful :O Too bad I can't see it FFS

[@josezamora1639]

I feel you Waldo 😔.

[@loganrolls8480]

now you know the struggle of looking for something you can't find

[@Finduszip12]

+Logan Rolls hahhaha

[@mercybellafiore3677]

I'm glad I live in the middle of nowhere, the sky looks so nice.

[@DamienDegois]

In fact, Eiffel tower and other monuments in Paris are no more lit after 1 or 2 am :)

[@same0077]

Thank you for making me feel lucky to live in Romania. I see the Milky Way (Calea Lactee ) every night in the summer.

[@boredninja12]

I want to see the real night sky.

[@MrDoctorBrainiac]

Go camping

[@erikasteele7717]

BrainDoc at trillium lake or clear lake

[@SeaTolli22]

boredninja12 noob

[@ColonelCbplayer]

Go to space

[@Dowhatsrightnoteasy]

This sci show felt like a crash course! This material got me through high school! Thanks hank

[@WarlordRising]

Go out to the middle of the Pacific on a quiet and calm night once in your life to appreciate the view our ancestors once had. It's that simple. Hell, you might get lucky and see bioluminescent creatures light up the ocean's surface around your boat.

[@tarnishedknight730]

I spent 20 years in the Navy. I have seen the glory of the stars in the night sky. I have seen the Aurora Borealis from the North Atlantic. I have observed the Milky Way from the deck of a darkened ship far from land and the light that it generates. I have watched the moon "follow" my ship as it peeks out from behind one cloud; only to dart to, and behind the next. And I have seen stars in clusters that I never have been able to see from land. And, I have seen the "blue lights" sparkle in the bow wake of the ship. No matter how many times I observed these sights, it was always as wondrous as the first time.

[@marcus3710]

Hank just summarized an hour long film that I just saw Netflix. Sci Show is so awesome!

[@nathangaspar4989]

So sad, I can only see our own great galaxy while camping

[@jordanolsen9373]

One of the best SciShow episodes ever

[@overwrite_oversweet]

We could replace road lights with phosphorescent strips on the surface of the road

[@jennilocke]

I will never forget the first time I saw the Milky Way galaxy. I was with some friends, and we decided one night to go out to a really old graveyard between a cornfield and a forest somewhere in Hagerstown, Indiana. They wanted to look for ghosts or something, I was just along for the ride. While they were off trying to communicate with the dead, I was by the car just staring up at the sky, and the feeling is just indescribable.

[@shadyplays3276]

Maybe that's why even if I'm running on 5 hours of sleep from the previous night I still can't fall asleep even tho it's almost 2 am

[@germanarellano5119]

Hope you guys keep making these videos forever since myself and my kid's generation get more knowledge out of 1 video than I ever did out of 4yrs of college. You are a great narrator by the way. Your sense of humor plus facts make it even better.

[@TheFourthWinchester]

This makes me sad. We're simultaneously fucking with the animals natural tendencies and robbing ourselves of the wonders of our own galaxy.

[@chriseffpunkt4333]

wake up lol ... Humans fuck with everything they can find on this godforsaken rock

[@moon540]

I still remember returning home to the countryside of Norway after weeks in London. The stars! My stars! I spent hours outside lying down in a field just to look, I'd missed them so much. Now I live on an island far far from any urban skyglow, and it is glorious. I spend many a night sitting in my hot tub beneath the moon, or walking in the forests or down to the sea to stargaze. Light pollution sucks butt.

[@exelibrium]

This is propably why I sleep so well, when I'm staying at my cabin.

[@SvenEnterlein]

This makes me glad we live in WV without much of street lighting in the neighborhood etc.

[@WinterCrafter]

Lets face it, in this era, everything is bad for us. Might as well not even exist.

[@jehold2010ify]

I worked night shift while living in in transit housing while deployed in Afghanistan. You truly learn to respect how important darkness is when you don't have it. I ended up having to layer blankets around my bunk and sleeping with an eye mask. More challenging than creating darkness to sleep in is waking up without light. I was constantly tired even with the proper amount of sleep.

[@LakeBodomsReaper]

I live out in the middle of no where, haha. Silly city folk :P

[@RahulPoddar1]

Bodom Fan I see ;)

[@LakeBodomsReaper]

of course :P

[@teresaellis7062]

I love how Hank Makes everything more interesting. He is so enthusiastic about science. :) I know that if I dim the lights in the evening or have fewer lights on at night, my son has an easier time falling asleep when he goes to bed.

[@xHaniffax]

Where in the world can one go where there will be minimal light pollution so that you can see the milky way??

[@uuabbit]

Australia.

[@TheFartman64]

eeeeeeeeh... Alaska?

[@xHaniffax]

Wooo thanks guys!

[@Patrikstar24]

Go to the state of Wyoming, cities of any kind are few and far between.

[@oO_ox_O]

Antartica

[@a.holland2262]

There are more light bulbs in my house than stars visible from my backyard, even on a good night

[@ronaldmcreynolds7345]

Now as Hank has mentioned in the introduction, there are reasons we invented and use outdoor lighting, but one of the things he's not going to mention in this video of which I've not seen any of yet past the introduction, is the traditional way we use it, that is, we just accept outdoor lighting in a noncritical thinking habit. I propose that what once constituted some common sense in the first decade or two of outdoor lighting has little basis in need these days and is typical of human nature, has proceeded way to far. Other than sports played at night, which could be done under domes to keep light inside from the night sky, I believe that if we got rid of most of our outdoor lighting, we'd be better off on the whole and much pleased by it. It would take an adjustment period to get used to lack of outdoor lighting, the same way it took to get used to having it. But the fact is, we can see in the dark to a good extent without lights. We have minds, memory and can know our way around without light. We could simply carry lower powered portable light if we needed, instead of lighting up whole neighborhoods with megawatts of power that no one is really needing in the dead of night. Imagine being able to see stars and galaxies, satellites overhead and not having bugs buzz you as you sit on your porch and learn to love the great cosmos over your head, or blinking of fireflies now quite visible. The pros far outweigh the cons. Not to mention the electrical energy saved, the money not spent, the benefit to the ecology. We are not blind. We don't not need massive outdoor lighting every where we go.

[@TheFourthWinchester]

A robber's paradise.

[@ronaldmcreynolds7345]

TheFourthWinchester If you think outside light is keeping people safe, you must be living under a rock.

[@TheFourthWinchester]

Ronald McReynolds First world problems

[@SuperPickle15]

Most burglaries happen in broad daylight when you're at work... Not while your inside...

[@polkadottedpolak]

This is so important! Thank you, SciShow!

[@suemoro]

FYI: your thumb nail says SOURGE INSTEAD OF SCOURGE.

[@ScienceByMike]

One of the more intriguing videos I've seen in a while

[@karenk9096]

It's so sad that people are becoming more and more removed from the natural world. All this excessive lighting is much more health harming than anyone knows and it ruins the qualify of our lives in a major way. Public demand to decrease it may be one of the key answers.

[@arttuy437]

I live in Oulu, Finland and i can see the milky way... but not very greatly. Thats why im so glad i have my lake house so far off tge nearest city. I love to go out on the shore at fall nigths and see so much of the galaxy and cosmos :) Finland rocks!

[@KustomFu]

but.... I like light :s

[@ralle2man2]

***** they do you just don't notice them, as much when there is so much light.

[@Kill0rbAg]

***** What? Have you never seen Mosquitoe swarms?! They are daytime creatures!

[@natehunt2821]

***** They definitely come out in the daytime lol

[@thickmcrunfast3386]

***** Putting aside the distinct possibilities that you, personally, may only be noticing them more at night either because you are relaxing out on your porch more at night or even because you already believe it to be true and so you only perceive positive evidence, I have a few idle hypotheses that may explain what you perceive. It might be the case that you notice them more at night because, while light is ubiquitous during the day (allowing mosquitoes to be stimulated into activity everywhere), at night, the only light is where people with delicious blood (like yours) are. It's possible that you don't notice yourself being bitten during the day due to the pace of your own activity. There are countless possibilities and I implore you to consider this question analytically. Think; what is different regarding yourself, mosquitoes and your shared environment between day and night? Do a little research and you'll answer more questions than you knew you had.

[@stiefmegan]

John Marshall Awesome. I've never really thought about why bugs "come out at night," and I never really questioned it. What you're saying makes a lot on sense, though.

[@Robstar0]

I've never known you could see the milky way with the naked eye like that! I've seen a lot of stars when I was in a dark place, but never this... Added to bucket list for this summer.

[@somethingclever8715]

I've seen the Milky Way, it's fucking beautiful. I recommend seeing it.

[@LukaUnempress]

My grandma lives at the Navajo reservation, and there are no lights there besides her house. As there are no trees either there, it's a perfect view of the milky way.

[@Mankorra_Gomorrah]

When your in your house at night with the lights on, you can't see out the windows without putting your face to it. You turn the light off and suddenly the window is clear as day. Is that the same principle as light pollution just a smaller scale?

[@momentary_]

Yep. Same reason there are no stars in the sky in pictures taken from the moon. The sunlight bouncing off the moon is drowning out the stars.

[@jakeself1911]

It's similar. You have trouble seeing out your window at night with the lights on inside because the light being reflected off of the inside of your window is brighter than the dim light reflected off of things outside. Light pollution is a little different, though. As you may know, visible light from the Sun can be broken up into multicolored light. Pretty much all of the colors of light can get through our atmosphere without much trouble, but blue photons are like pinballs that get knocked around a bunch by the molecules in our atmosphere before they finally enter our eyes. That's why the daytime sky is an opaque blue. Light pollution is less extreme and artificially-generated, but it's basically the same thing, with the light coming from the ground instead of the sky. The veil of light generated is brighter than the Milky Way and many stars, so they get washed out.

[@primevaltimes]

risker34 That's also how two-way mirrors work too.

[@shadenox8164]

Actually you can see stars on the moon. The reason there's no stars in the lunar photos is a result of drastically reducing exposure of the film to get a clear image because of how much light there is. The exposure time is simply too short for the stars to show up on film, but too long and you'd lose all detail of the lunar surface.

[@toker6664]

My town has for the last 3 years turned the streetlights off at 12am it works pretty well

[@ivanclark2275]

The sportsball field across the street from my house sometimes just leaves their giant floodlights on all night.

[@eyesofnova]

I've only ever seen the milky way once in the night sky once while camping and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

[@tonyman1106]

for any one who want to see dark skies take a trip to the Grand Canyon and you can see the darkest skies in the world.

[@MrDoctorBrainiac]

The darkest sky's in the world are probably in Antarctica

[@jeremiah160]

Great episode!! Thank you Hank and the SciShow team :)

[@S23K]

Thumbnail says "sourge" (missing C)

[@kmarinas86]

If you want to fix this problem while maintaining the same illumination, makes cities each in the shape of a giant cruise ship. This will reduce the amount of illumination that leaks to the outside, as most of the lighting will be in the interior. Then the night sky will be restored. It would also take less space, and would result in less pollution as more people would commute by elevator or tram instead of car. The major hurdle would be financing it. Keyword: Arcology

[@stealthunter14]

In the thumbnail you put Sourge not Scourge

[@EkiAku]

While I suppose it's good, I'm kinda disappointed in the idea that lights turn off at night. I think one of my favorite things is to see the city sky lit up with lights. But then again, I've never been one to enjoy the countryside in general, that includes the stars.

[@strange2684]

Would the use of LED lights be something that could help both in light pollution and in the emissions related to artificial lights?

[@MrDoctorBrainiac]

No LED's are actually brighter and there still artificial light.

[@MrDoctorBrainiac]

Oh sorry did you mean co2 emissions? Yes they would because the use less power. They wouldn't effect light pollution though.

[@audreyfischer]

That depends-- -- on the color spectrum of the LEDs. LED streetlights have the potential to INCREASE light pollution by 500% if the color spectrum of the light is high in the blue spectrum/bright white, because it scatters more easily (which is why we have a blue sky in the afternoon). -- The good thing about LEDs is that they are very easy to aim the light to keep on target. for example... it can shine a perfect rectangle, which would nicely light the street and sidewalks below, without trespassing onto private property and bedroom windows (which could shutdown the melatonin production of sleeping children & adults inside). --The good & bad thing about LEDs is that they are so cheap to use, there is a lot of temptation to use them in excessive ways. For example, bridges are now being lit up with thousands of LEDs as a display of multi-color changing light patterns -- adding to light pollution and harm for biodiversity and migrating birds, fishes and other wildlife.

[@audreyfischer]

Dr Harald Stark from NOAA has a published research article in Nature Geoscience Nov 2011 "City Lights and Urban Air" that shows how bright city lights can increase air pollution levels. Nature evolved in a way that in the dark of night, Nitrate radicals break down some chemical pollutants that accumulate during the day. City lights stop this process so much that the ozone pollution will increase up to 5%. BBC and many others covered this research. www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-11990737

[@bernardsmith2994]

LEDs are responsible for most of modern light pollution so no.

[@PaulPremack]

Thank you for another great SciShow!

[@storotso]

Find me something that DOESN'T cause cancer in some way and we'll have something to discuss -.-

[@MrDoctorBrainiac]

Happiness

[@storotso]

BrainDoc That probably raises cancer risks somehow. Maybe we could get Hank to check up on that. ^^

[@PeterJavi]

That is a very good question indeed. That should be the main focus of studies these days. Don't try to find something that causes cancer, find something that doesn't cause cancer. Maybe people would achieve happiness and general joy then

[@mtnhwy8152]

Peter Javi Cancer is known to the state of California to cause cancer.

[@eileenisshadow5853]

Tomatoes and blueberries are anti-cancer.

[@EmmleHad]

in the towns around where i live all the street lights go off at midnight. It is the weirdest experience to be driving along and the street to suddenly go pitch black but definitely worth it for the stars

[@Global00Vintage]

I understand the sight of the Milky Way would be unfamiliar in a city like L.A., but has no one picked up a book? Watched an episode of NOVA?? Really? You never saw a picture of the Milky Way in our sky hanging on your third grade classroom's walls?

[@Mtaalas]

Who cares, there's all those MTV reality shows and cute kitties on the TV... (note sarcasm, I agree with you).

[@MJFAN666]

One of the best videos I have seen in a long time. Thank you.

[@audreyfischer]

well done! wow, you can pack a lot in 10min!

[@amandaegeskovhald8222]

I'm so happy I grew up on the country. I've been star watching with my sisters countless of times growing up and I've been able to see our galaxy every time! :) But now I live in a small town and while I can still see some stars it's nothing compared to what you can see on a dark farm. I miss looking at stars.

[@JwilliamsAssociates]

I light this

[@AcadiaB]

I live in basically the middle of the bush so we have very little light pollution and gorgeous star views. Whenever we get a Japanese exchange student to live with us they always spend ages just staring up at the night sky.

[@junichis.5097]

"Sourge" eh? Hmm...

[@hyperspacey]

Actually, they switch off the lights on the Eiffel Tower at midnight now. Which is fantastic when you're trying to use it as a landmark to find your hotel and it just ups and disappears.

[@MrDoctorBrainiac]

I feel like you've had bad experience with this?

[@ThiccRic]

I have lived near Lansing most of my life and never saw the Milky Way until I was 17. When I was backpacking in the Rockies I got out of my tent in the middle of the night to pee, I almost cried. To this day it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.