Science: Pollution

These sites are about different forms of pollution and how it affects our environment. Topics include water quality, acid rain, smog, oil spills, and more. There are online games, classroom activities, and maps. Includes links to eThemes Resources on the greenhouse effect, recycling, Earth Day, and going green

Light pollution

Light pollution is a type of pollution. It is defined as “any adverse (or bad) effect as a result of man-made lights.” Usually, this means too much light. Several species, including plants and humans, are badly affected by light pollution. Most people have never heard of light pollution, and those who have usually don’t care, or do anything about it. Light pollution costs Americans billions of dollars every year.

There are five kinds of light pollution:

• Sky glow
• Light trespass
• Over-illumination
• Clutter
• Glare

Sky glow usually has more of an effect on the environment than light trespass and glare, but all of them are a major problem to people today.

Sky glow is the kind of light pollution that prevents people from seeing the moon and the stars. This causes birds to not be able to migrate to the right place because they can not follow the moon and stars. Sky glow also prevents astronomers from making discoveries.

Light trespass is when light being used by a person goes into the property of another. Though light trespass is not an environmental issue, it is still light pollution.

The third kind of light pollution, glare, has different kinds. The first, disability glare, is the loss of visibility because of too many lights. Discomfort glare is when the lights cause pain..

Pollution

Pollution is something that causes some sort of damage or problem to the environment or atmosphere.

Atmospheric pollution is due to harmful gases like carbon monoxide(CO),carbon dioxide(CO2),sulphur oxide sulphur dioxide,nitric oxide,nitric dioxide etc.

Light pollution, also known as photopollution or luminous pollution, is excessive or obtrusive artificial light.

The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) defines light pollution as:

Any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste.[1] Such an approach confuses the cause and its result, however. Pollution is the adding-of/added light itself, in analogy to added sound, CO2 etc. Adverse consequences are multiple, some of them may be not known yet. Real definitions are to be, therefore, like:

Alteration of natural light levels in the outdoor environment owing to artificial light sources[2] Light pollution is the alteration of light levels in the outdoor environment (from those present naturally) due to man-made sources of light. Indoor light pollution is such alteration of light levels in the indoor environment due to sources of light, which compromises human health.[3] The U.S. National Park Service, whose Night Sky Team determined that almost every park that it surveyed has noticeable light pollution,[4] defines the term as:

Principally, the illumination of the night sky caused by artificial light sources, decreasing the visibility of stars and other natural sky phenomena. Also includes other incidental or obtrusive aspects of outdoor lighting such as glare, trespass into areas not needing lighting, use in areas where or at times when lighting is not needed, and disturbance of the natural nighttime landscape.[4] Light pollution obscures the stars in the night sky for city dwellers, interferes with astronomical observatories, and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects. Light pollution can be divided into two main types: (1) annoying light that intrudes on an otherwise natural or low-light setting and (2) excessive light (generally indoors) that leads to discomfort and adverse health effects. Since the early 1980s, a global dark-sky movement has emerged, with concerned people campaigning to reduce the amount of light pollution.

Light pollution is a effect of industrial civilization. Its sources include building exterior and interior lighting, advertising, commercial properties, offices, factories, streetlights, and illuminated sporting venues. It is most severe in highly industrialized, densely populated areas of North America, Europe, and Japan and in major cities in the Middle East and North Africa like Tehran and Cairo, but even relatively small amounts of light can be noticed and create problems. Like other forms of pollution (such as air, water, and noise pollution) light pollution causes damage to the environment.