Unfortunately, the view of the starry sky is often obscured by the massive use of artificial light. Cities in particular create such a bright dome of light that only the brightest of the stars can be seen in the sky. The impressive expanse of the firmament and the many small points of light in the Milky Way only become visible if you move far enough away from the "light pollution".
Light pollution pollutes nature
The initiative Godfathers of the Night would like to draw attention to this problem. Because artificial light at night not only clouds the view of the crystal clear night sky. It also irritates plants and distracts birds on their migration routes. It also costs the lives of billions of insects, which in turn are missing out on nature as important agents of pollination and reproduction and are lost as a source of food for other animals. Our lavish use of light can throw entire ecosystems out of sync. In addition, unnecessary lighting costs a lot of electricity and thus generates CO2, which is the main factor in global warming.
Once a year, the Godfathers of the Night make it clear that our lives also function without this overexposure. That is why on 7 September 2021 the Earth Night takes place. Municipalities, businesses, all people who want to participate are called upon to reduce light from 10 pm: Switch off outdoor lighting, close blinds, switch off floodlights and street lights, use light sources with more yellow content are some of the recommended measures.
Setting a good example once a year
Aim of the Earth Night is not to plunge the world into darkness, but to consciously deal with artificial light sources. The initiators of Earth Night want to raise questions: Why do churches or shop windows have to be brightly lit at night? Why do street lamps shine so glaringly brightly where a softer one would be quite sufficient? Because from their point of view, politics has so far done far too little to achieve a responsible use of light.
We at SkyHeia support the Earth Nightbecause it makes an essential contribution to the issue of light pollution by drawing attention to the consequences for people, the environment and nature. In this way the Earth Night also the inner motivation that first led us to create a bed for sleeping outside to develop: the view of the star-studded sky.
(Thanks for the great photo to Kevin Kisterman.)
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