Lights Out for Mother Nature!

By Roxanne Werner

"Clean up your room. Take out the garbage. And don’t forget to pick up the light you scattered all over the place."

Pick up the light? What's going on here?

Like most parents Mother Nature is patient with her children. She accepted humans' childish fear of the dark. But after about a hundred years of electric lights she's putting her foot down. She didn't mind us having a night light but we've gone too far.

Unlike nocturnal animals, humans have poor night vision. We let our imaginations fill the shadows our eyes can't pierce. Through the centuries we have used torches, candles, oil lanterns, and gas lights to brighten our world. When we discovered electricity victory was ours. With a flick of the switch night became day; the scary dark banished forever.

If we had checked first with Mother Nature we'd know that we need the dark. It's not an enemy but part of the cycle of our planet. Biologists, environmentalists, and astronomers warn us of 'light pollution.'

In 2002, fifteen year old Jennifer Barlow decided to create National Dark Sky Week. An amateur astronomer, she needed the dark to view the stars. During Dark Sky Week, Jennifer and groups across the country limit outside lighting. The natural night sky reveals thousands of faint distant stars that are normally washed out in the electric glow of our towns and cities. But the stars are only one reason to dim the lights.

What's so bad about light? Animals and plants set their biological clocks by the length of day and night. Without dark time these clocks don't work. Studies show crops grown along well lit highways stunted. Night time insects like moths and burying beetles are on the decline. Mating and feeding behaviors for certain creatures require darkness. Sea turtle hatchlings confused by light never make it to the water. Our own sleep patterns suffer causing insomnia and moodiness.

Want to join in the fight to save our dark skies? It's easy.

1. Use a motion sensor or timer to turn outside lights on only when needed.
2. Direct lights at walkways or stairs not up at the sky.
3. Use recessed or shielded lights so the light falls where needed instead of glowing in all directions.
4. Contact Jennifer at http://www.ndsw.org . She'll be glad to help you with fliers to organize National Dark Sky Week in your town.
5. Hold a star party and enjoy the oldest and most spectacular light show on Earth.

National Dark Sky Week is celebrated every April during the week of the new moon when the moon itself turns off its light. Listen to Mother Nature. Don't be afraid of the dark. Enjoy its beauty, a sky filled with glittering stars to wish on, dream about, and inspire us all.