The Return of the Night Sky

Thinking about buying some lights to illuminate the trunks of your trees at night? It might be aesthetically pleasing, but excess nighttime light does real harm. In addition to affecting insects and birds, “artificial light at night” aka, ALAN, has negative consequences for humans, too. For Atmos Magazine, Jeremy Miller reports on light pollution, its consequences for living creatures on the planet, and efforts to take back the night across the globe.

“It was a huge property with giant oak trees,” she said. By then, she had begun pushing back against requests for bright lights aimed skyward, suspecting they were not only a public nuisance, but also environmentally harmful. The client persisted, however, and she eventually acquiesced, installing several powerful lights beneath the trees.

When she turned them on, her suspicions were confirmed. Dozens of eyes glinted in the canopy, staring back at her. “I almost wept,” she said. “It was in the spring, and all these birds were nesting. It was this turning point where it was just like, ‘I am not doing this ever again.’”

Kondolf’s experience reflects a growing scientific consensus that stray light is far more than an aesthetic concern. It is a form of waste that is reshaping ecosystems and altering the rhythms of life across the planet.