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Turning off the lights in cities: Why we need darkness and the benefits to human health

2022-12-26 10:18:09Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

 

Turning off the lights in cities: Why we need darkness and the benefits to human
The city of Weimar has saved energy during the summer months by turning on street lights 30 minutes later in the evening and turning them off 30 minutes earlier.

 

The advantages of cities with fewer lights: This winter, German cities turn off some lights at night, which not only saves money and energy, but also benefits human health, the climate and biodiversity.

The energy crisis has prompted cities across Germany to turn off the lights at night on monuments and major buildings such as town halls, museums and libraries.

In the capital Berlin, 200 monuments, including the Victory Monument and Berlin Cathedral, remain unlit when the sun goes down.

As of September 1, the Energy Saving Ordinance officially prohibits the lighting of public buildings from the outside. Meanwhile, neon signs can only be lit for a few hours a day.

 

Turning off the lights in cities: Why we need darkness and the benefits to human
Berlin Cathedral, public buildings are not lit up at night like they used to be

 

The city of Weimar in central Germany has saved energy during the summer months by turning on street lights 30 minutes later in the evening and turning them off 30 minutes earlier. But beyond saving energy and money, darker cities have many positive impacts on both climate and biodiversity.

Lights off help combat air pollution

The International Dark-Sky Association, a US-based non-profit organization, estimates that about one-third of all outdoor lighting consumed at night has no benefit.

Even before the global energy crisis and higher prices, turning off this unnecessary lighting would save $3 billion (€2.9 billion) a year and also help reduce air pollution and the harmful emissions that contribute to climate change. climatic.

In India, for example, excessive lighting emits 12 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, according to climate change expert Pavan Kumar of the Rhani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University in the state of Uttar Pradesh. This is equivalent to about half of the total emissions produced by India's air and sea traffic each year.

Today, more than 80% of people worldwide live under light-polluted skies. In Europe and the US, the figure is up to 99%, which means that people no longer experience true darkness. In Singapore, for example, the nights have become so bright that people's eyes now struggle to adjust to true darkness.

Why do we need darkness?

In addition to benefiting the environment, adequate darkness at night is good for human health. Studies have shown the link between artificial light and eye damage, insomnia, obesity and in some cases, depression. These side effects are related to the lack of melatonin, a hormone that is released when it gets dark.

 

Turning off the lights in cities: Why we need darkness and the benefits to human
Berlin on Christmas Day, despite the austerity measures during the Christmas holidays, the cities were decorated with lights

 

"When we don't get that hormone when we don't make that hormone because we're exposed to too much light in our apartment, or as a shift worker, then the whole work of this biological clock system becomes problematic," said Christopher Kyba, scientist at the German Research Center for Geoscience.

A 2020 study from the US shows that children and teenagers who live in areas with abundant artificial light sleep less and suffer more often from emotional problems.

The introduction of artificial light is "one of the most dramatic changes we've made to the biosphere," Kyba said. Throughout evolution "there was a constant signal coming from the environment," he explains. "This is day, this is night, this is the lunar month. In areas that experience heavy light pollution, that signal is dramatically altered."

Scientists estimate that our planet is becoming 2% brighter every year. So dimming or partially turning off street lights can be the first step to combating light pollution. This is despite regulations that think darkness affects accident or crime rates, an assumption disputed by a study in England and Wales.

Turning off the lights in cities: Why we need darkness and the benefits to human
Aerial view of the Düsseldorf Christmas market. However, artificial light is harmful to human health and biodiversity

Animals and plants also like the dark

Other species also try to adapt to the use of artificial light at night. Corals, for example, do not reproduce as usual; migratory birds can lose their sense of direction, and hatchling turtles have been found walking inland, where they die, rather than slithering out to sea.

Insects are also affected. A study shows that around 100 billion nocturnal insects die in Germany every summer as a result of artificial lighting.

Usually dependent on the moon for orientation, some insects are so distracted by bright street lights, for example, that they fly around them all night. The exhaustion that follows can make them easy prey for predators, interfere with their reproduction, or kill them outright.

Several recent studies have shown that plants grown near streetlights are pollinated significantly less often at night and produce fewer fruits than when the same plants are grown elsewhere in the dark. Even trees feel the impact of light at night - they produce buds earlier and their leaves fall later. /DW

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