LookingUp

Looking Out for Looking Up:: 

Looking Out for Looking Up: Preserving and Enhancing the Adirondack Night Skies ARC: 12th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks

Wilderness: 

Wilderness Wild Something characterized by bewildering vastness Occurring, growing, or living in a natural state; not domesticated, cultivated, or tamed Something characterized by bewildering vastness Definitions …

Outdoor Lighting: 

Outdoor Lighting Purpose illuminate what we need to see playing fields, streets, sidewalks, pedestrians, pets, thugs, etc. warn of dangers Outdoor lighting is not to protect us from the dark But that’s what much of it tries to do …

Outdoor Lighting: 

Outdoor Lighting Lighting Assumptions More light, brighter light is better and safer Everyone wants more light lighting up my neighborhood is OK Light always has a positive effect Darkness is unimportant

Lighting & Safety Studies: 

Lighting & Safety Studies No significant reduction in crime with lighting (eg. US Dep’t of Justice cf. www.darksky.org/infoshts/is063.html) “Dark Campus Policies” have reduced vandalism at some schools (http://www.darksky.org/infoshts/is054.html) Lights help criminals see victims, goods Lights in typically dark areas attract attention so crimes can be stopped

Light Pollution: 

Light Pollution Glare light that interferes with sight Light trespass lighting others’ property Energy Waste illuminating undersides of airplanes Sky Glow obscuring our view of the sky

Light Pollution: 

Light Pollution Glare, Light Trespass, Sky Glow

Glare: 

Glare Eye brightness range of about 1 million … Iris size adjusts to light levels Eye switches from cone to rod cells rods more sensitive to low light … “averted vision.” rods adjust to light level … “dark adaption.” Eye can discern details over 10:1 brightness variation in a single scene

Glare: 

Glare Direct bright light that reduces the eye’s ability to see dimly illuminated objects. Bright lights vs. pedestrians, animals Light fixture easy to see! Shadow VERY dark!

Park Street at Night: Glare: 

Park Street at Night: Glare Direct light from acorn and drop-down fixtures, and headlights very bright. Students seen as shadows against glare Street well lit!

Glare: 

Glare “If unshielded or poorly-aimed lights are in view of drivers, then the lights set the upper brightness range - things 10 times less bright like potholes, trees or pedestrians become featureless.” Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

Glare is Deadly: 

Glare is Deadly East Hampton, NY John Jiras, 71, killed while crossing street from movie theater to parking lot http://www.danspapers.com/paper/archive.html

Reducing Glare: 

Reducing Glare Shielding lights No light emitted above 20º below horizontal

Full-Cutoff Lights: 

Full-Cutoff Lights International Dark-Sky Association (IDA)

Light Trespass: 

Light Trespass Healthy, Safe, and Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting Act A7404 (Assembly), S4474 (Senate) Retirement Home at night … and the neighbor's house … placement of a light in “a manner whereby illumination or glare is cast unnecessarily on the property of another with the effect of reducing privacy, limiting use or enjoyment, hindering sleep and/or detracting from the appearance of the illuminated property …”

Light Trespass: 

Light Trespass Harmful to Human health, linked to circadian rhythms (sleep) disruption increased cancers damage to children’s eyesight Wildlife nocturnal animals insects birds

Health Effects: 

Health Effects Links to many health problems appearing

Wildlife Effects: 

Wildlife Effects Attraction, fixation & repulsion baby turtles in Florida head toward highway instead of ocean Disorientation birds fly into buildings, towers disoriented animals use extra energy Disruption of biological rhythms Robins in UK singing at night disturbs egg-laying in moths (http://www.darksky.org/infoshts/pdf/is187.pdf)

Wildlife Effects: 

Wildlife Effects Research in beginning stages “Even brief exposure to bright light can cause some nocturnal frogs to freeze for hours.”

Energy Waste: 

Energy Waste Estimated energy usage & cost Dark-to-Dawn lighting Mercury Vapor http://www.netacc.net/~poulsen/lightcost.html

Sky Glow: 

Sky Glow Familiar North Country Scene Village and city light domes obscure sky

Sky Glow: 

Sky Glow Adirondacks in darkest part of eastern US A resource to be preserved and cherished! Ottawa Syracuse Albany Watertown

Dark Sky Preserves: 

Dark Sky Preserves “Healthy, Safe and Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting Act” “… areas of the state which are especially suitable for astronomical observations and/or which provide, due to their darkness, nocturnal benefits to flora and fauna, or to citizens desiring views of unpolluted or relatively unpolluted night skies” … sounds like Adirondack Park

References: 

References International Dark Sky Association http://www.darksky.org/index.html SELENE-NY http://www.selene-ny.org/default.asp