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Wieduwilt, A., Alsat, E. A., Blickwedel, J., Strizek, B., Di Battista, C., Lachner, A. B., et al. (2020). Dramatically altered environmental lighting conditions in women with high-risk pregnancy during hospitalization. Chronobiol Int, in press.
Abstract: The maternal circadian time structure is incredibly important in the entrainment and programing of the fetal and newborn circadian time structure. Natural sunlight is the primary environmental time cue for entrainment of circadian rhythms, but high-risk pregnant women spend most of their time indoors with artificial light sources and extremely low levels of natural light both during the day and night. Because the daily level, timing, duration of light exposure and its spectral properties are important in maintaining the normal circadian physiology in humans, we aimed to evaluate the environmental lighting conditions in high-risk pregnant women admitted to hospital for long-term stay. About 30 patients were included in the study. Exposed illuminance, color temperature and effective circadian radiation dose were measured and recorded every 10 s by light dosimeters attached to the patients' clothing. We documented the illuminance of 29 pregnant women on 235 inpatient days. Median (IQR) measured illuminance was 70 (28-173) lux in the morning, 124 (63-241) lux in the afternoon, 19 (6-53) lux in the evening and 0 (0-0) lux at the night. Median illuminance for the 235 inpatient days of assessment was below the recommended EU standard of 100 lux-60.5% of the mornings and 42.7% of the afternoons. The women confined to indoor locations rarely achieved an illuminances more than 300 lux in the morning and in the afternoon. Compared to women with outdoor mobility, those confined indoors have a significantly lower illuminance and color temperature, both in the morning and in the afternoon. Our study presents the first information about the dramatically altered environmental lighting conditions experienced by high-risk pregnant women during their hospital stay. Their exposure to light while in the hospital is significantly lower than exposure to natural daylight levels and below the recommended EU standard.
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Liu, H., Ma, L., & Xu, L. (2020). Estimating spatiotemporal dynamics of county-level fossil fuel consumption based on integrated nighttime light data. Journal of Cleaner Production, in press, 123427.
Abstract: Rapid urbanization has resulted in increased fossil fuel consumption in China, which is closely related to regional sustainable development and CO2 emissions. This study proposed an improved model to estimate fossil fuel consumption on the county scale in Shandong to understand the dynamics of fossil fuel consumption. This improved model is beneficial for establishing energy-saving and CO2 emission reduction policies for both Shandong and other regions in China. Because of the lack of data on a county scale, this study applied panel data analysis from 1992 to 2017 by integrating the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) and NPP-VIIRS (Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suit) nighttime light data. Results showed that (1) The new method performed better than previous methods on estimating fossil fuel consumption; (2) Fossil fuel consumption has been rapidly growing in all cities and most districts and counties, mainly concentrated in west and east central Shandong; (3) Regions with high fossil fuel consumption shifted from west central Shandong to east central on the city level, and expanded from the east central to the entire central region on the county level; (4) In regions with a lower level of development, fossil fuel consumption tended to grow faster. These results will improve the understanding of fossil fuel consumption over the long term on county scales, and are beneficial for creating policies on regional energy savings and CO2 emission reduction.
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Nadybal, S. M., Collins, T. W., & Grineski, S. E. (2020). Light pollution inequities in the continental United States: A distributive environmental justice analysis. Environ Res, 189, 109959.
Abstract: Excessive exposure to ambient light at night is a well-documented hazard to human health, yet analysts have not examined it from an environmental justice (EJ) perspective. We conducted the first EJ study of exposure to light pollution by testing for socially disparate patterns across the continental United States (US). We first calculated population-weighted mean exposures to examine whether ambient light pollution in the US differed between racial/ethnic groups. We then used multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEEs) that adjust for geographic clustering to examine whether light pollution was distributed inequitably based on racial/ethnic composition and socioeconomic status across US neighborhoods (census tracts). Finally, we conducted a stratified analysis of metropolitan core, suburban, and small city–rural tracts to determine whether patterns of inequity varied based on urban-rural context. We found evidence of disparities in exposures to light pollution based on racial/ethnic minority and low-to-mid socioeconomic statuses. Americans of Asian, Hispanic or Black race/ethnicity had population-weighted mean exposures to light pollution in their neighborhoods that were approximately two times that of White Americans. GEEs indicated that neighborhoods composed of higher proportions of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, or renter-occupants experienced greater exposures to ambient light at night. Stratified analyses indicated that those patterns of inequity did not substantially vary based on urban-rural context. Findings have implications for understanding environmental influences on health disparities, raise concerns about the potential for a multiple environmental jeopardy situation, and highlight the need for policy actions to address light pollution.
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Schröter-Schlaack, C., Schulte-Römer, N., & Revermann, C. (2020). Lichtverschmutzung – Ausmaß, gesellschaftliche und ökologische Auswirkungen sowie Handlungsansätze (Vol. 186). Büro für Technikfolgen-Abschätzung beim Deutschen Bundestag (TAB).
Abstract: Künstliches Licht kann als eine der größten technischen Errungenschaften der Menschheit angesehen werden, die erhebliche Veränderungen bzw. Fortschritte der Arbeits- und Lebensweisen ermöglichen. Mit künstlicher Beleuchtung wird aber auch der natürliche Rhythmus von Tag und Nacht verändert und damit das Gesamtgefüge des Naturhaushaltes und der Nachtlandschaft transformiert. Ein natürlich dunkler Nachthimmel ist in Deutschland selten geworden. Licht-glocken über urbanen Gebieten sind weit weg von ihrem Entstehungsort in unbeleuchteten Gebieten noch sichtbar und lassen Sterne und die Milchstraße unkenntlich werden. Nicht nur das direkte elektrische Licht erleuchtet unsere Umwelt, sondern auch der nach oben abgestrahlte und reflektierte Teil des Lichts. Schichten der Atmosphäre, Staub oder Wassertropfen reflektieren und streuen das Licht. Dieser auch als Skyglow bezeichnete Effekt bewirkt eine zusätzliche Erhellung. Neben dieser künstlich erhöhten Himmelshelligkeit kann Licht auch die direkte Umgebung ungewollt aufhellen oder durch Blendung das Sehen einschränken. Licht ist ein wichtiger externer Zeitgeber für die innere Uhr der Lebewesen, an dessen natürlichen Rhythmus sich Menschen, Tiere und Pflanzen über Jahrhunderte angepasst haben. So wird vermutet, dass die permanent und periodisch veränderten Lichtverhältnisse durch zunehmende künstliche Beleuchtung negative Auswirkungen auf die menschliche Gesundheit haben und ebenso zu ökologischen Beeinträchtigungen führen.All diese nichtintendierten Wirkungen der künstlichen Beleuchtung werden unter dem Sammelbegriff Lichtverschmutzung verstanden. Lichtverschmutzung ist hier definiert als unerwünschte Wirkung künstlicher Beleuchtung im Außenbereich, also das Licht, das räumlich (Richtung und Fläche), zeitlich (Tages- und Jahreszeit, Dauer, Periodizität) oder in der Intensität oder spektralen Zusammensetzung (z.B. Ultraviolett- oder Blauanteil) über den reinen Beleuchtungszweck hinaus nicht beabsichtigte Auswirkungen hat (Kuechly et al. 2018). Mit dem vorliegenden Bericht werden der wissenschaftliche Erkenntnis-stand im Hinblick auf Umfang und Trends der Lichtverschmutzung sowie ihre wirtschaftlichen und soziokulturellen, humanmedizinischen und ökologischen Wirkungen zusammengefasst. Auf Basis dieser Erkenntnisse und aktueller beleuchtungstechnologischer und lichtplanerischer Möglichkeiten werden Handlungsoptionen abgeleitet, die eine Verringerung der Lichtverschmutzung bei gleichzeitiger Berücksichtigung der nutzbringenden Ziele der Beleuchtung unterstützen können.
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Ribas, S. J., Aubé, M., Bará, S., Bouroussis, C., Canal-Domingo, R., Espey, B., et al. (2017). Report of the 2016 STARS4ALL/LoNNe Intercomparison Campaign. GFZ Data Services.
Abstract: The 2016 LoNNe (Loss of the Night Network) intercomparison campaign is the fourth of four campaigns planned during EU COST Action ES1204. The first campaign took place in 2013 in Lastovo, Croatia, the second in Madrid, Spain (Bará et al 2015), the third in Torniella and Florence, Italy (Kyba et al 2015a). The 2016 campaign took place at the Parc Astronòmic Montsec (PAM). The campaign continued the strategy of taking measurements at multiple sites, this year with a main fixed site and then excursions to other sites. The goals of the campaigns included:
● Understanding the difference between extinction measurements made by DSLR photometry and classical astronomical (telescope) photometry, and also understanding the relation between extinction and sky brightness at these two sites.
● Examining the difference in radiance measured with the mosaic technique of the US National Parks Service camera compared to all-sky fisheye imagery
● Examining the relationships between all-sky and zenith radiance reported by different instruments
● Quantifying the sky brightnes at the sites, including full zenith spectral radiance at selected locations
● Measuring the systematic uncertainty on handheld SQM observations due to unit-to-unit differences
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