Light pollution can impact wild animals year-round, but particularly at this time of year as days get shorter. We all know about other types of pollution, but what is light pollution? Light pollution is defined as the excessive use of artificial light at night. This excessive light comes from cities that rely on well-lit streets, roads, bridges, airports, parking lots, sport centers, commercial and industrial buildings, and homes all being lit at night. Research indicates that light pollution has an impact on human performance, alertness, sleep and metabolic disorders and it can also have a profound effect on wild animals.
Wild animals can be negatively impacted by light pollution in many ways. Light pollution can cause changes in their foraging, mating, migration, communication, navigation and predation patterns. These changes to individual animal behaviour can have larger impacts on populations’ environmental ecology. Some examples of this can include sea turtle hatchlings heading in the wrong direction due to being disorientated when trying to find the ocean resulting in a decrease of the population, bats limiting their foraging and roosting options while trying to avoid light reducing their survival success, and migratory birds being attracted to lighting that can put them off course and in danger of colliding with a building increasing their risk of injury or death.
Steps to reduce light pollution
The good news is that we can all take steps to reduce light pollution and minimize the impacts on wild animals!
- Turn off exterior lights at your home when you are not using them or choose motion-activated lights instead.
- Keep your curtains closed at night and dim your lights when possible.
- Only place exterior lights where they are needed most and not in excess.
- Avoid directing lights toward the sky or higher than a horizontal line.
- Turn off lights inside your home when not in use.
- Limit your use of white and blue light as much as possible. Different colours of light have different wavelengths – blue and white light contribute more to light pollution than green, red or warmer-coloured lights.
- If you work or live in a tall office or apartment building, try speaking with management to see if there are ways to reduce the number of hours that lighting is left turned on when not in use or if window coverings can be added.
- Spread the word! Let friends and family know so they can start making a difference for wild animals.
The key is to find a balance between human lighting needs and minimizing excessive light as much as possible. With these mindful changes to artificial lighting around your home, you can make a big difference for wild animals.
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