Addressing Light Pollution : To protect our dark night skies (interview with ruskin hartley of international dark sky association)
Ruskin Hartley has spent over 20 years working in conservation and is now the Executive Director of the International Dark Sky Association (@IDAdarksky), which is the recognized authority on light pollution that's leading the way in the mission to preserve the night globally.
In this podcast episode, Ruskin sheds light on how artificial light is a form of pollution—just like air pollution and water pollution; how light pollution impacts our health and the health and natural behaviors of wildlife, such as migratory birds that navigate by moonlight and starlight; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Ruskin and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne.
Musical feature: Trust The Sun by Mission to Earth by NYADO
“Light truly is pollution in the same way that water gets polluted and the air gets polluted.”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast and multimedia journal illuminating our paths towards ecological balance, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all. This preview has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app to stay informed and updated on our latest episodes.
On artificial light affecting what our biologies have historically been accustomed to:
"We've been affected at both ends. At night, we light our environment—when we're at home, we're maybe watching the television or we have the lights on, so it's much brighter than we are historically used to.
During the day, we spend so much time indoors, and when we're indoors during the day, we're actually in dimmer environments than we would be outside.
There's some evidence of ways you can protect your health by going outside and getting exposure to that incredible, bright, beautiful sunshine. So get yourself going [outside]—it actually helps inoculate you against some of the brighter lights at night."
On the importance of addressing light pollution:
"Light truly is pollution in the same way that water gets polluted and the air gets polluted. It's exciting to see that knowledge increasing and to see the growth of interest in protecting the night from light pollution growing around the world.
We see this interest in communities, in every state in the union, and in dozens of countries around the world. People are coming together and saying, 'We want better light, and we want to have a view of the stars again.'"
On the misconceptions surrounding light and safety:
"There's an irony that almost every single culture around the world told their first stories through the constellations and the stars.
Not only are we losing our connection to nature, but we're losing our connection to that history. Without that exposure to darkness, people feel unsafe at night and they feel that more light will make them safer.
There's good research that has been done in this area, and it's becoming more and more clear that that is a misnomer: More light does not make you safe—particularly these days with bright, glare-y lights.
What makes you more safe is allowing your body to adapt to the environment outside and also having better higher quality lighting."
Final words of wisdom:
“It's all connected. Light pollution, in my experience, is an issue that brings people together in this time that's often so divided.
Addressing light pollution brings people together across different spectrums—it has many immediate benefits as well as the long-term benefit of creating a better environment for the world.”
