Abstract: A recurring question arises when trying to characterize, by means of measurements or theoretical calculations, the zenithal night sky brightness throughout a large territory: how many samples per square kilometre are needed? The optimum sampling distance should allow reconstructing, with sufficient accuracy, the continuous zenithal brightness map across the whole region, whilst at the same time avoiding unnecessary and redundant oversampling. This paper attempts to provide some tentative answers to this issue, using two complementary tools: the luminance structure function and the Nyquist–Shannon spatial sampling theorem. The analysis of several regions of the world, based on the data from the New world atlas of artificial night sky brightness, suggests that, as a rule of thumb, about one measurement per square kilometre could be sufficient for determining the zenithal night sky brightness of artificial origin at any point in a region to within ±0.1 magV arcsec–2 (in the root-mean-square sense) of its true value in the Johnson–Cousins V band. The exact reconstruction of the zenithal night sky brightness maps from samples taken at the Nyquist rate seems to be considerably more demanding.
Abstract: Light plays a key role in the regulation of different physiological processes, through several visual and non-visual retinal phototransduction channels whose basic features are being unveiled by recent research. The growing body of evidence on the significance of these effects has sparked a renewed interest in the determination of the light field at the entrance pupil of the eye in indoor spaces. Since photic interactions are strongly wavelength-dependent, a significant effort is being devoted to assess the relative merits of the spectra of the different types of light sources available for use at home and in the workplace. The spectral content of the light reaching the observer eyes in indoor spaces, however, does not depend exclusively on the sources: it is partially modulated by the spectral reflectance of the walls and surrounding surfaces, through the multiple reflections of the light beams along all possible paths from the source to the observer. This modulation can modify significantly the non-visual photic inputs that would be produced by the lamps alone, and opens the way for controlling—to a certain extent—the subject's exposure to different regions of the optical spectrum. In this work we evaluate the expected magnitude of this effect and we show that, for factorizable sources, the spectral modulation can be conveniently described in terms of a set of effective filter-like functions that provide useful insights for lighting design and light pollution assessment. The radiance field also provides a suitable bridge between indoor and outdoor light pollution studies.
Abstract: This comment explores the negative effects of light pollution and considers whether current levels of artificial light at night (LAN) warrant federal control by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This study first identifies the negative effects of light pollution on human health and the environment, treatment of which aligns with the mission statement of the EPA. Light pollution comprises both a private and a public nuisance. Next, this comment assesses the effectiveness of the common law approach, local government, state government, and federal control over light pollution in this context to determine which form of governance is most effective. Then, EPA involvement through federal and state implemented plans, as well as federal regulation of manufacturing is investigated. Last, this comment considers the necessity of private action through an emerging legal reform called new governance, which emphasizes public-private approaches. The negative effects of light pollution on human health and the environment could eventually lead the EPA to assert control over the regulation of light pollution, but under the current presidential administration this is highly unlikely. The predicted lack of government action leads me to call for nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to step in and take action to privately regulate light pollution and mitigate its negative effects through certification regimes, insurance premium incentives, and corporate social responsibility until government exerts regulatory control.
Keywords: Society; law; light pollution; regulation; environmentalism
Abstract: Alternation between day and night is a predictable environmental fluctuation that organisms use to time their activities. Since the invention of artificial lighting, this predictability has been disrupted and continues to change in a unidirectional fashion with increasing urbanization. As hormones mediate individual responses to changing environments, endocrine systems might be one of the first systems affected, as well as being the first line of defense to ameliorate any negative health impacts. In this Review, we first highlight how light can influence endocrine function in vertebrates. We then focus on four endocrine axes that might be affected by artificial light at night (ALAN): pineal, reproductive, adrenal and thyroid. Throughout, we highlight key findings, rather than performing an exhaustive review, in order to emphasize knowledge gaps that are hindering progress on proposing impactful and concrete plans to ameliorate the negative effects of ALAN. We discuss these findings with respect to impacts on human and animal health, with a focus on the consequences of anthropogenic modification of the night-time environment for non-human organisms. Lastly, we stress the need for the integration of field and lab experiments as well as the need for long-term integrative eco-physiological studies in the rapidly expanding field of light pollution.
Keywords: Human Health; Alan; Glucocorticoid; Hormones; Light pollution; Melatonin; Metabolism; Sleep; Stress; Thyroid; Urban ecology