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It's not just keeping you up. Light pollution is doing real damage. It's time to act.

When an earthquake hit the San Fernando Valley in 1994, the power went out all over Los Angeles.

The quake struck just before dawn. And suddenly, phones started ringing at the local Griffith Observatory. People were worried because they thought the night sky looked strange.

Turns out, due to the power outage, these frightened Angelenos were simply seeing the stars for the first time!

"The stars were in fact so unfamiliar, they called us wondering what happened," observatory Director Ed Krupp told the Los Angeles Times.


Sadly, because of light pollution, residents of Los Angeles aren't alone in their shock over the real night sky anymore.

A U.S. Marines armored vehicle during a night operation in Afghanistan. Photo by Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP/Getty Images.

Light pollution is the brightening of the night sky by man-made sources.

It's everything from street lights to outdoor lights on homes. And since the incandescent bulb was introduced more than 100 years ago, it's been getting increasingly difficult to see the night sky.

Earth's city lights. Image by Craig Mayhew and Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC.

As I was working on this story, I thought about the last time I could clearly see the stars. I remembered seeing the Big Dipper from the backyard of my childhood home, but that was years ago. And I couldn't remember anything since.

Had it really been so long since I'd seen a clear view of the night sky? It's actually pretty likely.

It's estimated that nearly one-third of the human population, including 80% of Americans, can no longer see the Milky Way. That's our home galaxy, whose spiral band of white stars resembles spilled milk.

The Lyrid meteor shower and the Milky Way in the clear night sky of Thanlyin, Myanmar. Photo by Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images.

Why is this starry absence so important to consider?

I wanted to see what I was missing, so I went to my local observatory, the Haggart Observatory at Clackamas Community College. Once a month, volunteers open the observatory's large telescope and observation decks to the public.

When it was my turn, my group walked up the steep stairs to the first observation deck, then through a door in the floor to the top of the observatory.

It was pitch black. I couldn't see my own hands, let alone anyone else in my group. We took turns stepping up to the eyepiece on the large telescope. It was one "Wow," after another, as we each had a chance to see Saturn and her beautiful rings.

All at once, I understood why the sudden spray of stars likely alarmed the people of Southern California. It's beautiful. It's breathtaking. And there's simply nothing else like it.

The Milky Way towers over U.S. Marines near their compound in Afghanistan. Photo by Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP/Getty Images.

When we can't see the stars, we don't just miss out on awe-inspiring natural beauty.

We also miss out on a fascinating, almost spiritual part of the human experience.

"To me, I think we're robbing ourselves of our human soul that we've had for eons," said Dawn Nilson, volunteer Dark Sky Preservation director for Portland's Rose City Astronomers. "If you look at all the artwork going back thousands of years ... there's a relationship with the sky, with the stars, and our whole body's built on it. I mean, where would Van Gogh have painted a starry night if he didn't see a starry night?"

"The Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Just like other types of pollution, light pollution is something we should work to reduce.

"Being able to see the Milky Way, to see the stars, is incredibly important. But people don't see that as important as say, pollution in a river that's killing fish," said Cheryl Ann Bishop, communications and public affairs director for the International Dark-Sky Association.

Like trash in the water and smog in the air, light pollution is taking a serious toll on many species of wildlife.

Male tree frogs croak at night as part of their mating behavior, but the glare from artificial lights is disrupting this breeding ritual and interfering with reproduction, which may lead to a drop in population. Many amphibians hunt after dusk, but they may stay hidden if their area is well-lit, adversely affecting the amount of food they can eat.


A tree frog sits on a branch in Maryland. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

Birds are also adversely affected.

Mary Coolidge, BirdSafe campaign coordinator for the Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon, told me that most songbirds travel at night. It cuts down on turbulence, they can avoid predators, and they can use the moon and stars to navigate. But light pollution is starting to inhibit their migration patterns.

Cranes fly at dawn. Photo by Francois Nascimbeni/AFP/Getty Images.

"When they come to areas where there's quite a bit of sky glow because of unshielded lighting in the city, that really drowns out those cues for them," Coolidge said. And since many of the birds are attracted to light, streetlights and illuminated skyscrapers can be especially dangerous.

"There are stories of birds that ... end up getting entrapped by light and circling a building, and circling, and circling, until they collapse from exhaustion."

Birds fly past floodlights at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Chandigarh, India. Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images.

It's not just animals, either — our obsession with bright lights is also affecting human health.

Cities across the nation are replacing existing streetlights with LEDs, which are more energy-efficient and last longer. But LEDs have a high color temperature (around 4,000 to 5,000 Kelvin) and a high level of short-wavelength blue light. This can cause intense discomfort and severe glare and can actually be dangerous to walk or drive in at night.

The bright lights can also suppress melatonin, the hormone that controls our internal sleep-wake cycle. This can cause excessive sleepiness and impaired daytime function.

The moon behind a newly installed LED streetlight in Las Vegas. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images.

While the problem of light pollution is big and far-reaching, the fix is relatively simple.

To cut down our own contributions to light pollution and skyglow, we can each do a home audit of outdoor lighting.

"That's the first thing people can do is look around their homes to make sure their lights are dark-sky friendly," Bishop said. "One of the most important things is to make sure [lights] are fully shielded because a lot of lighting and a lot of security lighting ... it's not going down on the ground, where it's actually needed; it's going up in the sky, which serves no purpose and just wastes energy."

Image via International Dark-Sky Association.

The International Dark-Sky Association estimates that 30% of outdoor lighting in the U.S. is wasted, going up into the sky instead of down on the ground, resulting in $3.3 billion in unnecessary energy expenditures and 21 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Why aren't people doing this already? "The hardest part is that most people don't know what they're missing, so it's not an issue to care about," Nilson said.

This long-exposure photograph shows the Milky Way in the clear night sky at Ngwe Saung beach in Myanmar. Photo by Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images.

Whether we're doing it for wildlife, our health, future generations, or everyday inspiration, the night sky is something worth fighting for.

Do yourself a favor this summer and find a place to stare at the night sky. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised by the beauty you see.

Identity

Celebrate International Women's Day with these stunning photos of female leaders changing the world

The portraits, taken by acclaimed photographer Nigel Barker, are part of CARE's "She Leads the World" campaign.

Images provided by CARE

Kadiatu (left), Zainab (right)

True

Women are breaking down barriers every day. They are transforming the world into a more equitable place with every scientific discovery, athletic feat, social justice reform, artistic endeavor, leadership role, and community outreach project.

And while these breakthroughs are happening all the time, International Women’s Day (Mar 8) is when we can all take time to acknowledge the collective progress, and celebrate how “She Leads the World.

This year, CARE, a leading global humanitarian organization dedicated to empowering women and girls, is celebrating International Women’s Day through the power of portraiture. CARE partnered with high-profile photographer Nigel Barker, best known for his work on “America’s Next Top Model,” to capture breathtaking images of seven remarkable women who have prevailed over countless obstacles to become leaders within their communities.

“Mabinty, Isatu, Adama, and Kadiatu represent so many women around the world overcoming incredible obstacles to lead their communities,” said Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA.

Barker’s bold portraits, as part of CARE’s “She Leads The World” campaign, not only elevate each woman’s story, but also shine a spotlight on how CARE programs helped them get to where they are today.

About the women:

Mabinty

international womens day, care.org

Mabinty is a businesswoman and a member of a CARE savings circle along with a group of other women. She buys and sells groundnuts, rice, and fuel. She and her husband have created such a successful enterprise that Mabinty volunteers her time as a teacher in the local school. She was the first woman to teach there, prompting a second woman to do so. Her fellow teachers and students look up to Mabinty as the leader and educator she is.

Kadiatu

international womens day, care.org

Kadiatu supports herself through a small business selling food. She also volunteers at a health clinic in the neighboring village where she is a nursing student. She tests for malaria, works with infants, and joins her fellow staff in dancing and singing with the women who visit the clinic. She aspires to become a full-time nurse so she can treat and cure people. Today, she leads by example and with ambition.

Isatu

international womens day, care.org

When Isatu was three months pregnant, her husband left her, seeking his fortune in the gold mines. Now Isatu makes her own way, buying and selling food to support her four children. It is a struggle, but Isatu is determined to be a part of her community and a provider for her kids. A single mother of four is nothing if not a leader.

Zainab

international womens day, care.org

Zainab is the Nurse in Charge at the Maternal Child Health Outpost in her community. She is the only nurse in the surrounding area, and so she is responsible for the pre-natal health of the community’s mothers-to-be and for the safe delivery of their babies. In a country with one of the world’s worst maternal death rates, Zainab has not lost a single mother. The community rallies around Zainab and the work she does. She describes the women who visit the clinic as sisters. That feeling is clearly mutual.

Adama

international womens day, care.org

Adama is something few women are - a kehkeh driver. A kehkeh is a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi, known elsewhere as a tuktuk. Working in the Kissy neighborhood of Freetown, Adama is the primary breadwinner for her family, including her son. She keeps her riders safe in other ways, too, by selling condoms. With HIV threatening to increase its spread, this is a vital service to the community.

Ya Yaebo

international womens day, care.org

“Ya” is a term of respect for older, accomplished women. Ya Yaebo has earned that title as head of her local farmers group. But there is much more than that. She started as a Village Savings and Loan Association member and began putting money into her business. There is the groundnut farm, her team buys and sells rice, and own their own oil processing machine. They even supply seeds to the Ministry of Agriculture. She has used her success to the benefit of people in need in her community and is a vocal advocate for educating girls, not having gone beyond grade seven herself.

On Monday, March 4, CARE will host an exhibition of photography in New York City featuring these portraits, kicking off the multi-day “She Leads the World Campaign.

Learn more, view the portraits, and join CARE’s International Women's Day "She Leads the World" celebration at CARE.org/sheleads.


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Let's settle this silly-but-surprisingly-heated debate once and for all.

Elya/Wikimedia Commons

Should you hang the toilet paper roll over or under?

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The "over or under" question has plagued marriages and casual acquaintances alike for over 100 years, with both sides convinced they have the soundest reasoning for putting their toilet paper loose end out or loose end under. Some people feel so strongly about right vs. wrong TP hanging that they will even flip the roll over when they go to the bathroom in the homes of strangers.

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One man found himself facing a judge for sentencing after making poor choices. Arthur Booth had the entire internet weeping after a video of him went viral when the sentencing judge in court recognized him as one of her childhood friends. When Booth recognized the judge, he began to openly sob with embarrassment. He was ultimately sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to a drug rehabilitation center.

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The entire walk, round trip, takes about 2 hours a day.

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