International Dark Sky Week brings light pollution awareness

Article originally published in Fairfax Times 5 April 2024

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to designate the week of April 2-8, 2024 as International Dark Sky Week. Chairman Jeff McKay and the board members issued a proclamation to celebrate the week and to bring awareness for the problems light pollution causes.

International Dark Sky Week is a worldwide night celebration to build awareness about the harmful effects of light pollution and the importance of the global nighttime environment. To learn more visit https://bit.ly/3J1nqB3

Light pollution is growing at twice the rate of the population, doubling every eight to 10 years, and in some places scientists predict in 20 years NO stars will be visible. Fairfax County is one of those places.

Along with blotting out the view of the night sky, light pollution negatively affects many parts of our world, including migratory birds, nocturnal pollinators, sea turtles, fireflies and other nocturnal creatures.

Light pollution also has serious human health consequences and has been linked to cancers: breast and prostate, anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, heart disorders, obesity, diabetes and, of course sleep disorders.

It is time light pollution is raised to the same level of priority as air and water pollution.  It is that dangerous and that deadly.

Local, state, regional and national cooperation is needed to solve this pollution. Fortunately Fairfax County has made light pollution one of the county’s environmental goals for years.

Strong legislation and updated outdoor lighting codes and ordinances are critical to halting and to reversing this problem.

Robust public education campaigns and messaging are needed to raise awareness for everyone about the responsible use of outdoor light at night. The Fairfax County Park Authority Dark Skies page at https://bit.ly/3vysQR0 helps do just that.  

For International Dark Sky Week this year, Fairfax County Public Library branches now have a Dark Skies backpack available for check out. The backpacks contain a light pollution monitoring kit to help measure the growth of light pollution in Fairfax County and star charts. Find more information at https://bit.ly/43F9PZw

A simple step that anyone can do is to take the Home Lighting Inventory developed by DarkSky International and certify your home Dark Sky Friendly. You can find the survey at https://bit.ly/3J2zkuu

Businesses and municipalities can do the same.

The steps are easy. Check to make sure that your lights are useful, are fully shielded, that the light does not trespass (targeted), that they are no brighter than necessary which saves money and prevents glare, that they use the warmest color temperature needed for the use.  Use amber toned lighting or the color of candlelight. Use dimmers and timers.

And of course, simply turn off lights when they’re not needed. All of these steps prevent light trespass.

I don’t have a right to trespass on to your property. Why do my lights?

This year for International Dark Sky Week educate yourself on how to use outdoor light at night responsibly and ask yourself, will we be the last generations to see stars overhead in Fairfax County?

You will still be able to see solar eclipses however. This year’s International Dark Sky Week was chosen to coincide with the upcoming one. Both George Mason Observatory in Fairfax and Observatory Park at Turner Farm in Great Falls are holding partial eclipse viewing events on April 8.  

After the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous United States will be on Aug 23, 2044. Celebrate International Dark Sky Week and this once in a 20 year opportunity at these renowned Fairfax County observatories.

More information can be found at the following links: https://bit.ly/3VKJqrp and https://bit.ly/4a7Aalz

Eileen Kragie is the founder of Dark Sky Friends, an organization that advocates for responsible outdoor lighting at night.

Holiday Lights, No Stars

First published in The Fairfax Times 29 December 2023

Too sad for words. Instead of stepping outside on a cold winter night, to look up into a sky filled with a billion stars and planets twinkling overhead, we step out into a world awash with artificial light.

Light littering, trespassing, polluting and killing.  The pristine night sky visible for eons, blotted out by excessive manmade light.

A sacred time of the year further polluted by massive strings and displays of artificial lights.  Stripped of its mystery.

Where 20 or 30 years ago, this was a magical time of year to walk down the street, to see trees lit inside homes and subtle, minimal displays of holiday lights outside, it has now turned into a time where huge over lit displays are erected.  More lights added each year, eroding the magic and sacredness of this time of year.

Communities encourage this by holding contests.  Retailers encourage this by selling more and more lights.  Businesses popping up who will install the lights on homes for you.  The result, a degrading environment, harm to the wildlife and light trespass into yards and into bedrooms, deadly human health consequences, and the extinction of the the mystery of of starry nights.

Instead of staring up into a pristine dark night sky, looking for the star of Bethlehem high in the sky, artificial light displays blot out the sky and the stars.  Sky glow created, which can be seen hundreds of miles away from the source.

How would the three wise men ever found the stable and manger holding the new born little baby Jesus with all of the light pollution and light trespass today?

Where would Christmas have come from?  Maybe it is time to return to the days of yore.

Use light intelligently, smartly, responsibly, kindly and considerately.  

Follow DarkSky International’s five lighting principles for responsible outdoor lighting.

Use a modicum of restraint especially with the holiday lights.  

The planet and all her creatures thank you!

Eileen Kragie is the founder of Dark Sky Friends, an organization that advocates for responsible outdoor lighting at night.

Why Are So Many American Pedestrians Dying at Night?

Comments published in New York Times

Dark Sky Friends
Virginia

Glare from improperly designed and positioned lights, along with the bright LEDs from headlights, blinds drivers causing serious public safely hazards.It takes 10 to 15 minutes to regain your night vision after being blinded by light.  With the exponential increase in the use of too high (lumens) of bright blue-white colored lights vs warmer color temperature (kelvins) lights, roads and streets  are becoming much more dangerous.  Businesses, homeowners and municipalites install light that trespasses and ones that do not illuminate the intended area.Dangerous public safety situations are created and oft times even after notifying the entity of the dangerous effect of the light, nothing is done to mitigate it.Most times it is only requires repositioning the fixture to point toward the ground or to add full shielding.With the lack of protection in the form of strict outdoor lighting ordinances and legislation, the problem of light pollution and light trespass only continues to worsen.Coupled with the other distractions affecting drivers this problem of pedestrian deaths will continue to grow.

Original article published in New York Times 11 December 2023

Why Are So Many American Pedestrians Dying at Night?

(Click on link for tables of statistics)

Sometime around 2009, American roads started to become deadlier for pedestrians, particularly at night. Fatalities have risen ever since, reversing the effects of decades of safety improvements. And it’s not clear why.

What’s even more perplexing: Nothing resembling this pattern has occurred in other comparably wealthy countries. In places like Canada and Australia, a much lower share of pedestrian fatalities occurs at night, and those fatalities — rarer in number — have generally been declining, not rising.

Pedestrian Death Rate at Night

In America, these trends present a puzzle that has stumped experts on vehicle design, driver behavior, road safety and how they interact: What changed, starting about 15 years ago, that would cause rising numbers of pedestrian deaths specifically in the U.S. — and overwhelmingly at night?

“This is something that, quite frankly, our profession missed,” Rebecca Sanders, the founder of Safe Streets Research and Consulting, said of the toll of nighttime deaths. “I think we missed that for a long time.”

In 2021, more than 7,300 pedestrians died in America — three in four of them during the hours between sunset and sunrise.

This trend exists on top of what is already a growing gap in roadway deaths between the U.S. and other countries. Speed limits on local roads are often higher in the U.S., laws and cultural prohibitions against dangerous driving can be weaker, and American infrastructure in many ways has been designed to enable speeding cars.

Those baseline conditions may mean, researchers suggest, that American roads — and the pedestrians walking along them — have been especially susceptible to potential new risks like smartphones and bigger vehicles.

But even that is only part of the picture.

“I don’t have any definitive answers for this,” said Jessica Cicchino, the vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Ms. Cicchino, like many observers, has puzzled over how rapidly nighttime deaths have risen. “What is it that’s happening specifically in the dark?”

The Danger of Darkness

For starters, it’s important to understand just how stark the threat of darkness is for pedestrians in the U.S. Federal data that tracks every roadway fatality makes clear that the problem is not just about the behaviors and routines that happen to occur around nighttime (leaving work, for example, or going to bars). It is darkness itself that matters.

This chart shows the deadliest time of day for pedestrians, averaging data from 2000 to 2021 over a whole calendar year:

Pedestrian Deaths by Time of Day

Source: New York Times analysis of federal road fatality data.

Another way of describing this picture: It shows the annual arc of the setting sun. Researchers have found related patterns looking at fatal collisions that occur in the weeks before and after clocks change for daylight saving time. When the 6 p.m. hour abruptly changes from light to dark, for example, even as traffic patterns generally remain the same, that hour becomes abruptly more deadly, too.

“It’s purely an effect of daylight or darkness — and it’s huge for pedestrians,” said Michael Flannagan, a retired professor at the University of Michigan.

In the dark, pedestrians are harder to see than other road users. They typically don’t wear reflective gear or lights, and their outerwear is often dark in color. American roads also weren’t particularly engineered with this risk in mind.

“We literally taught generations of engineers to design conditions for daylight and not to consider nighttime,” Dr. Sanders said.

The risk for other road users is higher during the day: The majority of deaths among vehicle occupants occur then. Until the last few years, that was true of cyclist fatalities, too. Even incidents of cars driving off the road don’t spike with nightfall in the same way that pedestrian fatalities do.

Darkness, it appears, especially threatens people on foot.

Or, rather, people on foot in America. In comparable countries, pedestrians are generally more likely to be fatally struck during the day.

New Risks

The most obvious potential risks that have changed in America since 2009 are found inside vehicles — in the drivers there fiddling with smartphones, in the dashboard displays that have grown ever more complex, in the growing weight and force of vehicles themselves.

Smartphones have become ubiquitous with remarkable speed, overlapping closely with the timeline of rising pedestrian deaths. Apple’s iPhone was introduced in 2007. Within a few years, one-third of American adults said they owned a smartphone. By 2021, according to the Pew Research Center, 85 percent did.

When it comes to other sources of driver impairment, “there’s no particular reason to believe that alcohol, speeding or fatigue necessarily have changed in any kind of big way,” said David Strayer, a psychologist who studies driving at the University of Utah. “What has changed is the amount of technology that we’re surrounding ourselves with.”

Smartphones — and the way they can distract both drivers and pedestrians — aren’t uniquely American. But there is one thing that is still distinctly so: the pervasiveness in the U.S. of automatic transmissions, which help free up a driver’s hand for other uses. Just 1 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold this year in the U.S. had manual transmissions, according to the online car-shopping resource Edmunds. In Europe, manual transmissions are declining in popularity as a share of new light vehicles sold. But they still make up about 70 to 75 percent of cars on the road, estimated Felipe Munoz, senior analyst at JATO Dynamics.

It’s perhaps not surprising then that Americans spend nearly three times as much time interacting with their phones while driving as drivers in Britain, according to smartphone data collected by Cambridge Mobile Telematics, which helps auto insurers, carmakers and local governments track and reduce dangerous driving. In the U.S., that distracted driving — detected when phones are tapped or in motion in vehicles traveling faster than 9 miles per hour — also typically peaks in the evening hours, according to the company’s data.

Time Spent Interacting With Phones While Driving

Source: Cambridge Mobile Telematics data covering about 920 million U.S. car trips from Jan. 2020-Oct. 2023.

Though this data doesn’t capture exactly what people are doing on their phones, evening is when people often coordinate social activities and manage after-hours work messages and tasks. America’s round-the-clock work culture may contribute to that trend.

“​​The adoption of smartphones for the past 15 years — where we are today, being addicted on social media and other apps — absolutely contributes to the increase in fatalities on our roads,” said Matt Fiorentino, Cambridge Mobile Telematics’ vice president for marketing.

Official data linking smartphones and crashes is hard to find, though, given that the police typically don’t ask people involved if they were using phones (and those people might not answer truthfully anyway).

Beyond just display screens, new vehicles have also changed to be wider, longer, taller and heavier. Not only do heavier vehicles hit pedestrians with more force, but they also often have worse brake times, meaning a driver who notices a pedestrian at the last second may strike that person at higher speeds. Studies have also indicated that vehicles with taller hoods are more likely to kill if they hit pedestrians; they strike people closer to the head or torso, instead of the legs.

While researchers have pointed toward vehicle size as a factor explaining America’s high overall rate of pedestrian fatalities, several said they were skeptical that it explains much of the increase since 2009. That’s because American cars were relatively large even before 2009, and the rate at which new cars replace existing ones is slow.

“In explaining the big run-up in pedestrian deaths, it’s not actually a huge portion,” said Justin Tyndall, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization. His research estimates that the change in vehicle types since 2009 is responsible for less than 100 additional deaths per year. By comparison, around 3,300 more pedestrians died in 2021 than in 2009.

Similarly, ownership of smaller vehicles (like sedans, coupes and station wagons) is down since 2009. But total pedestrian deaths from these same cars are up more than 70 percent, suggesting the bulk of the problem cannot be attributed to increased car size alone.

The behavior of drivers inside vehicles — of any type — may also have changed over this time for a few additional reasons, researchers suggest. This timeline also overlaps with the rise of opioids and the legalization of recreational marijuana. But there is little research about how marijuana affects driving.

Periodic federal roadside surveys, last updated in 2013-14, have found declining alcohol use by drivers and a rising share testing positive for drugs. A more recent federal study, collecting data from trauma centers and medical examiners about seriously or fatally injured road users, found in the years leading up to the pandemic that half of the drivers studied tested positive for at least one active drug. During the pandemic, that share rose to 65 percent. The results, the authors warned, “could be indicative of a growing problem.”

Societal Change

None of the explanations so far easily accounts for the full rise of pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. But while less obvious than driver and vehicle behavior, changes that have happened outside the car and across American society may be just as important.

One theory is that Americans have been migrating toward the Sun Belt, including parts of the country that developed in the auto age, that have particularly poor pedestrian and transit infrastructure, and that have some of the highest pedestrian fatality rates. The rise in pedestrian deaths has been nationwide, with per-capita pedestrian fatality increases in 47 states since 2009. But many areas that have had poor pedestrian safety records going back decades — especially metro areas in Florida, Texas, and Arizona — have also seen the greatest recent population growth.

Yearly average calculated from 2019-2021.

Source: New York Times analysis of federal road fatality data.

The number of pedestrian fatalities in Florida has increased 75 percent since 2009, while the population has increased around 17 percent. Such state population changes alone don’t explain most of the rise in deaths, however. More relevant patterns may have to do with where, specifically, people have moved within those states.

Nationwide, the suburbanization of poverty in the 21st century has meant that more lower-income Americans who rely on shift work or public transit have moved to communities built around the deadliest kinds of roads: those with multiple lanes and higher speed limits but few crosswalks or sidewalks. The rise in pedestrian fatalities has been most pronounced on these arterials, which can combine highway speeds with the cross traffic of more local roads.

Research has found that pedestrian deaths over the last 20 years have declined in downtown areas and increased in the suburbs, often in places where lower-income residents live. Such suburban arterial roads are also where many communities have allowed multifamily and affordable housing construction that has been less welcome in neighborhoods with inherently safer streets.

In Portland, Ore., for example, immigrants and lower-income residents priced out of other parts of the city have moved in along some of the region’s most notoriously dangerous corridors, like 122nd Avenue, a five-lane arterial that runs through the city’s most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods.

“Now we have folks that are living, working, shopping, going to school directly on these roads that were essentially built as highways,” said Dana Dickman, the traffic safety section manager for the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

In more recent years, the rise of homelessness in many American cities since about 2016 has also put a growing vulnerable population on streets in conflict with speeding cars. In 2021, 70 percent of Portland’s pedestrian fatalities were among the homeless. Last year, about a third were, similar to recent data in Los Angeles. Such data is relatively limited and new, but other cities including Colorado Springs and San Jose, Calif., have also noted a rise in pedestrian fatalities among the homeless.

The homeless population may have little choice but to be out at night, and near dangerous roads.

“Where they’re actually living unhoused — next to freeways, next to undercrossings — those are typically places that are busy streets,” said Tim Weisberg, a deputy director for the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Nationwide, the overwhelming majority of the rise in pedestrian deaths since 2009 has come among working-age Americans, reinforcing the idea that this shift may also have to do with where those people are living and spending time.

Change in Pedestrian Death Rate by Age

Source: New York Times analysis of federal road fatality data.

People 17 and under are the one group bucking the overall trend, and deaths of children walking are at a record low. Not only are children less likely to be walking at night when the majority of pedestrian deaths occur, but studies have also estimated that the percentage of children who walk or bike to school has declined precipitously over the last 50 years.

Individually, any of these theories seems unsatisfying. But put together, it’s clear that there’s been a particularly American mix of technological and social changes over the past decade and a half. And they have all come on top of a road system and an ingrained culture that prioritizes speed over safety. Whatever has happened over this time has reversed years of progress on daytime pedestrian fatalities, too, leading to a modest increase in deaths. Nighttime, however, has the potential to amplify so many of these new risks.

A transportation system that’s safer by design — as in many European countries — might better absorb any one of these dangers. Distracted drivers are safer at lower speeds. People out at night are safer with well-lit crosswalks.

Even “monster trucks are safe on safer roads,” said Nicholas Ferenchak, a professor at the University of New Mexico and director of the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety.

Now imagine distracted drivers in monster trucks on high-speed roads in the dark.

Methodology

Data on U.S. fatalities comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, which records all roadway fatalities and variables about each incident, including the time, location, road and vehicle type involved and age of the deceased. The Times analysis identified nighttime deaths by comparing the recorded location of each pedestrian fatality with the time of sunset or sunrise at that location on that date. Unless noted, cyclists and other individuals not explicitly labeled pedestrians in the data were not included in our analysis.

International pedestrian fatality data comes from the Australian Road Deaths Database, Britain’s Department for Transport, Canada’s National Collision Database and France’s Observatoire National Interministériel de la Sécurité Routière.

The group of “smaller vehicles” refers to those categorized as “passenger vehicles” by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Highway Administration. This includes sedans, coupes, convertibles, hatchbacks and station wagons — but not trucks, minivans or S.U.V.s. Registration data was used to track declining vehicle ownership among this group.

Artificial Light at Night Leads to Plant, Pollinator Decline

Illuminating Solutions To Reduce Sky Glow

Originally published in Fairfax County Master Gardeners Fairfax Gardening

by Christina Tyler Wenks, Fairfax Master Gardener

Light pollution impacts the health of wildlife, pollinators, plants and humans, but residents can take simple steps to reduce a problem that is increasing as much as 10 percent each year.

International Dark Sky Association suggestions to reducing night light

Illuminated landscapes are a distinguishing characteristic of industrialization and cover much of the Earth’s surface, but life evolved to need hours of darkness. Exposure to artificial light at night can disrupt organisms’ physiological processes with implications for health and conservation and contributes to the decline of some plant and pollinator populations.

Lights allow longer work, play, productivity and make people feel safer, but the problems caused by excessive lighting are far reaching — even into space. Pockets of purely natural light are becoming the exception, not the rule. Just as cooperative extension agents and certified master gardeners suggest the “right plant in the right place,” one solution to light pollution and subsequent sky glow could be as simple as right light at the right time pointed in the right direction.

Earth is transitioning from nighttime to lighttime

More than one-third of the world’s population, which includes 80 percent of the United States population, cannot see the Milky Way or constellations due to artificial light at night, also known as ALAN, which is caused by house and street lights, vehicles and commercial lighting. Disappearing night sky has health consequences to nocturnal wildlife, pollinators and plants as well as human mental health.

LED-lighting provides less expensive and brighter, intense-white lighting, which stimulates the popularity growth of upward aesthetic landscaping lighting with light directed at foliage and structures. Extra light traveling up into the night sky contributes to sky glow, which appears brighter under reflective nighttime clouds.

“Artificial light changes the circadian rhythm of beings and is a type of climate change that is controllable and reversible,” says Eileen Kragie of Dark Sky Friends, a nonprofit based in Fairfax County, Virginia, dedicated to educating about the impact of light pollution and light trespass and how to reverse it.

A newly opened exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum called “Lights Out: Recovering our Night Sky” illuminates the perils of sky glow as well as solutions to reverse ALAN without diminishing visibility or safety. The timing of the exhibit at the Natural History Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., coincides with emerging and growing research about exposure to artificial light at night disrupting organisms’ physiological processes with implications for health and conservation.

Plants, pollinators, predators and prey

Plants and trees depend on light wavelength or color, light intensity or brightness, and hours of light duration to govern photosynthesis that requires visible blues and reds to stimulate sugar production. A plant’s photoperiodism, caused by red and infrared light, controls vegetative and reproductive activities, which is why artificial light at night can cause plants to leaf out instead of flower or fruit.

Photinus pyralis firefly

ALAN impacts the food web in unprecedented and unpredictable ways and is blamed as a cause for the population decline of fireflies that are attracted to any form of light. Fireflies or lightning bugs live underground for years before emerging above ground and using bioluminescence to attract a mate. Most active at dusk and just after dark, males in the treetops fly down to the females that flash, flicker or glow just above the ground. ALAN confuses lightning bugs.

Increasing artificial light around plants that open solely at night or are pollinated by nocturnal pollinators like bugs, birds and bats, decreases or prohibits plants from flowering and reproducing, which impacts plant reproduction and pollinating species, too.

Nighttime croaking is part of the breeding ritual of frogs and toads. Artificial light disrupts nocturnal activity, interfering with reproduction and reducing populations.

Caterpillars often use the guise of night to feed and avoid predation. Insects at all life stages and aquatic organisms caught in artificial light become late-night snacks, reducing populations and impacting long-term sustainability.

Research finds predatory arthropods such as spiders are disproportionately represented in illuminated habitats, and owls are adapting to artificial lighting and nesting nearer to night lights to extend successful foraging time, but the absence of dark is consequentially foul for fowl health, too.

Window light, barred owl eats bugs

During an April 2023 Smithsonian Institution webinar called “Lights Out: the Effects of Light Pollution on Bird Health,” biologist Biologist Valentina Alaasam discussed her ongoing research examining the effects of light pollution on the health of birds and what that research demonstrates about animals adapting to an environment where more light at night is the new normal. Alaasam’s research showed that birds are less likely to nest in trees above yard lights and birds try to nest in darker spaces. In urban and suburban areas, birds have fewer dark choices and nest where they must.

Her research shows that birds subjected to light pollution all night for weeks had enlarged hearts, an effect she said is comparable to heart disease in humans, and young birds are developmentally impacted, too. But, she said her team’s research shows that negative health symptoms caused by all-night light can be reversed within a few weeks when birds return to nesting in all-night darkness. The research parallels studies about human sleep patterns and behaviors and further research is underway.

Research shows that the type of light impacts the amount of nighttime predation and health consequences. Energy-efficient LEDs can create a much brighter, sharper, white light compared to the low-pressure yellow-orange glow of older streetlights, but newer LEDs offer adaptive options such as adjusting color and intensity that can add additional efficiency and appliance longevity and, if used optimally, can be part of respectful night light that coincides with energy cost savings.

Regaining the night requires community involvement

To regain dark skies, respect Native American cultures, to support astro-tourism, and the health of all beings, Tucson, Arizona, leaders made a city-wide lighting retrofit that can be applied anywhere in the world. Down-facing, directional, energy-efficient LED-based lighting saves the city thousands in electricity. Tucson optimized lighting-color temperatures to warm hues specific for different periods of night, operating LED lights at 60 to 90 percent intensity, resulting in energy cost savings.

The City of Alexandria, Virginia, is committed to deliberate, directional lighting endeavors, too, and in a 2023 Dark Sky Proclamation detailed the city’s intent to protect neighborhoods adjacent to stadium lighting from light trespass, too.

Virginia leads the nation in proclamations supporting dark skies with state and municipal support from Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna, Leesburg, Lexington, Ashland and more.

Fix light pollution with four Rs

National Public Radio reports that light pollution is increasing 10 percent every year, but researchers assert that humans can reverse the trend.

Simple, immediate solutions include:

• Reduce light at night by using the least amount only where and when needed and remove redundant lighting. Lights should be turned off or dimmed during off-peak hours to avoid continuous lighting of trees, which has the greatest potential for upsetting normal growth patterns. While shade trees can mitigate light pollution, trees and wildlife in trees are affected by ALAN. Where night lighting already exists, select plantings with low sensitivity to light. Use dimmers, timers and motion sensors.

• Replace blue and white light with warmer lights that may have less light intensity. Use timers and sensors that turn on/off lights.

• Re-direct amounts of light by using lamp covers or directional lighting fixtures facing the ground to reduce light spilling up into the night sky to prevent light pollution avoiding blinding glare. Researchers and Dark Sky Association members recommend avoiding all upward lighting and shining light over horizontal distances.

• Research is ongoing and needed.

Alaasam said that reducing the amount of light from urban commercial and suburban home windows by 50 percent can reduce the number of bird collisions into buildings because of disorienting light at night.

Technology aids adapting lighting, color and intensities where and when needed. The right color and intensity of light at the right time pointed in the right direction creates the right light at night.

Resources
• Lights Out: the Effects of Light Pollution on Bird Health, Smithsonian Institution, webinar, April 12,
   2023
• Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky Exhibition, Smithsonian Natural History Museum
• Planet Positive Worldwide Lights Out Program, Smithsonian Magazine
• All Things Considered, Light pollution frustrates astronomers looking for discoveries, National Public
   Radio (NPR),
• A review of the effects of artificial light at night in urban areas on the ecosystem level and the
   remedial measures, Frontiers
• Light pollution harms plants in the environment, Florida Atlantic University
• Light Pollution Effects on Wildlife and Ecosystems, International Dark Sky Association

Bat Festival 2023 at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

Originally published in HappeningNext

Bat Festival: "Protecting Our Nocturnal Neighbors" ~ Join us for lots of bat fun!
About this Event

Sun Oct 29 2023 at 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm

Host: Dark Sky Friends

Join us for a captivating afternoon at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts as we celebrate and learn about these incredible creatures of the night at the "Bat Festival: Protecting Our Nocturnal Neighbors." This educational event is designed to shed light on the importance of bats in our ecosystem, raise awareness about the threats they face, and empower attendees to take action to protect them.

Image credits: Leslie Sturges -3 bats, eileen Kragie -sunset, Bat images by Freepik

Highlights of the Festival:

1. Bat Education and Conservation Talks:

Renowned bat experts will share their knowledge about the diverse world of bats, their ecological significance, and the threats they encounter, including light pollution.

Including Leslie Sturges, President Bat Conservation and Rescue Virginia and Alonso Abugattas, "The Capital Naturalist"

Learn how you can make a difference in bat conservation efforts.

2. Light Pollution Awareness:

Discover the detrimental effects of light pollution on bats and other nocturnal wildlife.

Learn how simple changes in lighting practices can make a big difference.

3. Bat-Themed Activities and Educational Tables

Engage in fun, interactive activities for all ages, costumes optional and costume contest

4. Food and Refreshments:

Bring your own blanket, chair, picnic and favorite beverage. Food/beverages will not be available for purchase at event.

5. Conservation Partners:

Connect with local and national organizations dedicated to bat conservation and other conservation efforts.

Bring your friends and family for an afternoon of fun, education, and a deeper appreciation for the vital role bats play in our ecosystem. Let's work together to reduce light pollution and ensure a brighter future for these remarkable nocturnal neighbors.

Reserve your spot today and be a part of this unique and enlightening experience!

Registration is FREE

• Event Partners:

Dark Sky Friends

DarkSky International

DarkSky NOVA

National Park Service

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

Friends of Wolf Trap

Fairfax County Park Authority

Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia

The Capital Naturalist

Audubon Society Northern Virginia

George Mason Observatory

Analemma Society

NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador

and more....

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Safety Note: Your safety is our top priority. Please follow all event guidelines. For your preparation and safety for this outdoor festival, please bring a flashlight and cover with red film. Wear shoes appropriate for uneven ground and dress in layers.

In the case of heavy rain, inclement weather or government shut-down, this event will be cancelled.

Participants assume full liablity for attending and cannot hold sponsors, hosts, volunteers liable for any injury or mishap. By registrering, the participant HEREBY AGREES TO WAIVE, RELEASE, DISCHARGE INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS listed FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES FOR DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE WHICH MAY HEREAFTER ACCRUE AS A RESULT OF ANY PARTICIPATION.

I grant full permission to use and reproduce my images or likeness by any audio and/or visual recording technique (including electronic/digital), for any legitimate purpose, including commercial marketing purposes, relating to the Event or to promote awareness and fundraising

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Where is it happening?

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, United States

The dark legacy of artificial light

This article was originally published in Letters to the Editor The Washington Post Opinion Readers critique The Post: Hold climate change culprits accountable September 15, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT

The Sept. 3 “Classic Peanuts” comic strip was too depressing for words.

Woodstock’s reaction most likely would be one of horror these days at the explosion of irresponsible light at night, not only in the cities but also across the globe. The unshielded light depicted in the fourth frame causes glare, light trespass and light pollution.

The fall migration of the birds is beginning. Artificial light at night is the cause of death of hundreds of millions of birds each year.

One hardly thinks Woodstock would be happy seeing the pavement below buildings littered with the bodies of his friends. The “Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky” exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History shows what the unabated exponential growth of our artificial lights is doing.

Eileen Kragie, Vienna

The writer is the founder of Dark Sky Friends.

Fairfax supervisors OK lighting restrictions around observatory

Originally published in gazetteleader
Brian Trompeter Nov 27, 2023 10:11 AM

Photo Credit © Adobe Stock photo

New outdoor-lighting rules approved unanimously by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 21 aim to ensure night skies above Turner Farm Park Observatory in Great Falls will not be subject to worsening light pollution – at least from the surrounding neighborhood.

“Although Fairfax is in an overall area of light pollution, due to the scientific properties of light, lighting near the observatory has a greater impact on the ability to view the night sky from that location,” said Deputy Zoning Administrator Carmen Bishop, who led the staff presentation at the meeting.

The new outdoor-lighting rules are designed not only to reduce light pollution, but also improve safety and security, she said. A total of 525 residential properties will be impacted.

Following their approval in February 2020 of a zoning-ordinance amendment that updated county outdoor-lighting standards, supervisors directed county staff to consider further zoning rules to protect dark skies around astronomical facilities.

(See new rules below.)

State law allows localities to regulate outdoor lighting within a half-mile radius of astronomical observatories, meteorological laboratories and planetariums.

The new rules, which took effect the following day, only regulate Turner Farm’s. The observatory at George Mason University’s observatory at its Fairfax campus is not subject to the county’s regulations, because it is on state-government property.

The Turner Farm property, which Fairfax County obtained in 1998, formerly was used by the Defense Mapping Agency and as a Nike missile-control site. Besides the observatory, the park also has equestrian facilities.

The observatory opened in 2016 and since January 2018 has served more than 16,500 people through viewing sessions and educational programs, officials said.

The Analemma Society, whose volunteers staff Turner Farm Observatory Park, is seeking to have the International Dark Sky Association designate the site as an Urban Night Sky Place.

“The observatory is an important and unique STEM educational resource that may serve to inspire students in their pursuit of further education and training and eventually join the STEM workforce,” said Jennifer Falcone, who chairs the Great Falls Citizens Association’s Land Use and Zoning Committee.

“The evolution of lighting technology and the introduction and popularity of bright LED lighting, GFCA believes this measure is especially appropriate,” added Falcone, who lives within the zone affected by the new lighting standards. “This amendment is not onerous . . . Security is not compromised by dark-sky-compliant lighting.”

Artificial light has been doubling every 10 years and causing sky glow, hence threatening the Turner Farm observatory, said Christina Tyler Wenks, an Analemma Society board member who volunteers at the site.

“Without action to preserve the night, our observatory has 10, maybe 15, years left,” Wenks said in video testimony.

Modern LED lights are significantly brighter than old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, said Eileen Kragie, president of Dark Sky Friends. Light crosses property boundaries and into people’s bedrooms, as well as public parks and common sky, she said.

“I don’t have the right to trespass onto your property,” Kragie said. “Why do my lights? Nothing onerous is being asked of anyone – simply to have kind, considerate and responsible lighting.”

Support for the amendment has not been unanimous in the community, said Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville). An Oct. 18 Planning Commission public hearing drew several neighbors of the observatory who protested the proposed regulations, citing property rights and security concerns.

County staff modified the proposed amendment following public feedback and the final result is a “very reasonable approach to the challenge that we have,” Foust said. “I just think this is a wonderful way to start the process of trying to preserve a sky that we can observe through the telescopes. Really [the observatory is] unique. It’s not like anything else we have in this county.”

Supervisor Daniel Storck (D-Mount Vernon) said he hoped the new rules would be the start of a mostly voluntary effort to reduce light pollution in the county.

Supervisor Penelope Gross (D-Mason) thanked those who testified at the meeting for their educational remarks.

“We don’t necessarily need all of that light,” she said. “I really do hope that Turner Farm Park will be able to serve future generations and that we can keep it relatively dark there.”

• • •

Under the new rules:

> Legally existing lights may remain until replaced by their owners, who then will have to buy lights that meet the new standards.

> Motion-activated lights on single-family residential lots need not meet the full cut-off or setback/shielding requirements if they are 1,500 lumens or less (equal to about one 100-watt incandescent bulb), versus the standard of 4,000 lumens or less for the rest of the county. In addition, those lights must continue to comply with existing standards requiring them to turn off within five minutes and be directed within the property.

> All outdoor lights must have full cut-off features and comply with setback and shielding regulations, except ones putting out 20 lumens or less and lights near doors and garages generating no more than 1,500 lumens per fixture.

> Uplights or spotlights highlighting flags, landscaping or architectural features now are limited to 300 lumens apiece, with no limit on the number of fixtures.

> Outdoor lights must have a color temperature no higher than 3,000 degrees Kelvin, the same as elsewhere in the county.

> There may be any number of lights, and of any brightness, provided they have full cut-off shielding.

Fairfax County updates zoning rules to allow brighter outdoor signs

Originally published in FXXnow November 27, 2023 at 3:30pm

Electronic signs on display at eligible businesses, schools and other establishments can now shine brighter at night.

In planned, commercial and industrial zoning districts within Fairfax County, electronic display signs can now reach brightness levels of up to 300 nits at night, compared to 100 nits previously.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the change to the county zoning ordinance after a public hearing at its Nov. 21 meeting.

“Nits” indicate an object’s brightness. Common cellphones, televisions and computer monitors have nit levels between 250 and 600, according to a county staff report. Under existing county rules, a lot has a designated amount of “freestanding sign area” and may have one electronic display sign that uses up to 50% of that area.

“During outreach on this amendment, we did receive feedback from industry that modern screens are getting brighter, including the widespread use of LED technology,” said Casey Judge with the county’s Department of Planning and Development.

Feedback and research led to county staff’s recommendation to increase the maximum brightness, Judge said.

In residential districts, the maximum nit level will remain 100 nits at night. The 100-nit limit will also apply to any electronic display signs visible to a single-family dwelling within 150 feet of the property with the sign.

Staff had recommended increasing the maximum nit level to 500 nits in planned, commercial and industrial areas in an Oct. 3 report. However, the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended the ultimately approved 300-nit maximum and the 100-nit maximum for signs located near single-family homes, Judge said.

“I’m not sure 150 feet is the right number, but I think this is one of those things, over time, we’ll probably be getting feedback if it’s too short,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said.

Three community members spoke during the public hearing. Kenny Peskin, a McLean resident who identified himself as an employee of the International Sign Association, said he was “generally in support of the motion,” in particular the version in the staff report with the higher nit limit.

Eileen Kragie, founder of an organization called Dark Sky Friends that advocates against light pollution, spoke against artificial light at night, but called the work “a credible first cut for the electronic signage ordinance.”

Jennifer Falcone called in on behalf of the Great Falls Citizens Association, reporting that the board of the association supported the motions adopted by the planning commission.

Changes to the zoning rules for outdoor signs have been in the works for over a year. Staff presented an initial proposal in May that underwent two public hearings with the planning commission.

Other approved changes include combining three sign application processes and permitting illuminated window signs of up to 4 square feet in non-residential locations.

County staff will provide a report on the implementation of the new guidelines within 18 months.

(For full public hearing Special lighting Zone and electronic signage Fairfax county Board of Supervisors meeting 21 Nov 2023

go to 4:34:22 for testimony by Kragie for signage amendment portion of public hearing)

County board of supervisors approves zoning changes to curb light pollution in Great Falls, Virginia - The Observatory at Turner Farm Park

Originally publishes in FXXnow - Fairfax County Now County board approves zoning changes to curb light pollution in Great Falls

Written by Fatimah Waseem 28 Nov 2023

(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) After more than two years of development, a new set of regulations will officially preserve dark skies around Turner Park Farm Observatory in Great Falls.

At a meeting on Nov. 21, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved zoning changes that aim to reduce light pollution and preserve dark skies within a half-mile of the observatory.

The proposal was significantly pared down after several community meetings and town halls. The changes will only apply to future lights on properties located within a half-mile of the observatory.

Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said he was satisfied with the proposal, which he called a “very reasonable approach” to the challenge facing the community.

“It’s not unanimous in the community, but I will say that the opposition is much less almost justified than it was when this thing started,” Foust said.

Under the zoning ordinance amendment, motion-activated outdoor lights must be 1,500 lumens or less — a drop from the current limit of 4,000 lumens or less.

Additionally, all lights need to be fully cut off — meaning the bulb can’t be exposed — which is currently not required. Still, an exception to the cut-off and shielding requirements will remain for lights at a door or a garage of up to 1,500 lumens per fixture.

The regulations would also set limits on the number of up-lights or spotlights allowed. Currently, any number are allowed as long as they’re fully cut off or shielded to confine light. The changes would limit each fixture to 300 lumens.

Unlike at previous public hearings, divisive testimony was limited. Several testifiers spoke in favor of the changes to the zoning ordinance.

Jennifer Falcone, a representative for the Great Falls Citizens Association, said the proposal is integral to protecting a “treasured community resource.”

“I live within this area,” Falcone said. “Given the evolution of lighting technology and the introduction and popularity of LED lighting, GFCA believes this measure is especially appropriate.”

Eileen Kragie, president of Dark Sky Friends, a nonprofit organization that aims to preserve dark skies, emphasized that the changes are sorely needed.

“Light pollution is growing at twice the rate of the population,” Kragie said. “In 20 years, stars won’t be visible.”

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Daniel Storck said the proposal’s approval could pave the way for future changes.

“This is in my mind…the start of a process that is mostly voluntary,” Storck said. (The spelling of Supervisor Storck’s name has been corrected.)

The amendment’s passage came on the same day that the Board of Supervisors approved zoning changes that will permit brighter electronic signs in more urbanized and commercial districts.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Great Falls light Reston Turner Farm Parkzoning

Fairfax County BOS Unanimously Passes Special Lighting Zone around the Observatory at Turner Farm Park 21 November 2023 meeting

A Public Hearing on a Proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment Re: Outdoor Lighting Around Turner Farm Park Observatory (Dranesville District) was held by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors 21 November 2023 meeting.

The amendment for the special lighting zone passed unanimously which serves to protect the night skies over and around this observatory and the Great Falls community for all future generations. Pristine night skies along with a healthy environment for all are quickly being lost to runaway light pollution and light trespass.

This step to protect and to preserve the night skies and nocturnal environment in Fairfax County is a first step in reversing and in beginning to reclaim our birthright to the night skies above us and to a healthy nighttime environment.

Dark Sky Friends founder Eileen Kragie testimony at board hearing

go to 4:03:20 for remarks from Kragie on the Observatory at Turner Farm Park special lighting zone

Full hearing on Special lighting Zone and electronic signage

go to 4:34:22 for additional testimony by Kragie for signage amendment portion of public hearings

Dark Sky Special Lighting Zone-the Observatory at Turner Farm Park, Virginia

The Fairfax County Planning Commission on 18 October 2023 held a public hearing on creating a special lighting zone to protect the dark skies around the Observatory at Turner Farm Park in Great Falls, Virginia as allowed under Virginia State Code 15.2-920

The motion to take staff recommendations for creation of this protected lighting zone to the Board of Supervisors passed unanimously.

The following link is to the public hearing with Dark Sky Friends founder’s remarks beginning at 1:58:26.

Video begins at start of hearing on the zoning ordinance amendment on dark sky lighting.

Fairfax County Planning Commission Public Hearing Video

Code of Virginia

§ 15.2-920. Regulation of outdoor lighting near certain facilities.

In addition to any other authority granted to localities by law, any locality may by ordinance regulate outdoor lighting within an area one-half mile around planetariums, astronomical observatories and meteorological laboratories. This section shall not be construed to affect any ordinance heretofore adopted by a locality.

1980, c. 512, § 15.1-29.8; 1997, c. 587.

Code of Virginia Table of Contents » Title 15.2. Counties, Cities and Towns » Subtitle II. Powers of Local Government » Chapter 9. General Powers of Local Governments » Article 1. Public Health and Safety; Nuisances » § 15.2-920. Regulation of outdoor lighting near certain facilities

Commentary: Vienna needs to catch up, address nighttime light pollution

Originally published - EILEEN KRAGIE, Founder, Dark Sky Friends, for the Sun GazetteOct 12, 2022

Inside NoVa link to Sun Gazette original article

As the Vienna town government begins the process of updating its town codes and ordinances, last written in 1969, outdoor lighting is on the agenda.

Vienna is surrounded by Fairfax County, whose leaders have made light pollution one of their environmental goals for years and are currently in the public-hearing stage of creating a new and environmentally sounder zone around the observatory at Turner Farm Park in Great Falls.

By improving the ordinances for the use of responsible outdoor light at night, the county’s leaders recognized the massive toll the growth of light pollution is taking on all of our lives, including those of all of the creatures that live among us.

Moreover, the loss of the pristine night skies that once blanketed the county is not only a loss to astronomers and each and every resident of the county, but also its loss impacts the nocturnal creatures and nocturnal plants, interrupting and changing their circadian rhythms.

During the spring and fall, the migration of the birds traversing this country is severely impacted by all of the artificial lights that have spread across this area, region and country.

Light pollution is growing at twice the rate of the population. The sheer waste of energy is exorbitant and a national-security issue.

One does not have to go far to find egregious examples of light pollution and light trespass in Vienna.

Westwood Country Club has been leaving on every light on the back of the club for years. The lights trespass well across the property, Creek Crossing Road and into the park on the other side of the road.

The homes on East Street all sport unshielded fixtures that trespass well beyond each owner’s property boundaries. Here on East Street you will find a prime example of a home where double spotlights have been installed on each corner.

Instead of keeping the illumination contained within its own property, the light serves to create a blinding glare for drivers, pedestrians and creatures alike. And there are homes there whose unshielded lights trespass into the fragile parkland that they abut and, even more, trespass well into other private-property owners’ yards and homes. Additionally, they are not motion-activated, so they remain on all night.

Ayr Hill Ave., N.E., is another classic example of the overuse, and silly use, of landscape lighting. The lighting severely affects the plants, trees and nocturnal creatures, including the nocturnal pollinators, particularly when left on all night long. (You are not using the yard, why are the lights on?)

I do not have a right to trespass onto your property. Why are your lights allowed to trespass onto mine and public space? This includes the common sky, which a view of the stars and other celestial objects is our birthright.

As the town government begins this process of updating its codes, it must apply the principles of responsible outdoor light at night. It must begin and continue the education process and outreach for the public and residents.

Fairfax County is well along in addressing this issue, but much more work needs to be done across the county to protect residents from light trespass and sky glow.

We must return to the courteous and kind neighborly practices of turning off our outdoor lights at night at a reasonable hour, say 9 p.m. The wasteful and harmful practice of leaving lights on all night must simply stop.

Light trespass must be made part and parcel of the new town codes to protect residents of the town and residents of Fairfax County whose properties abut the town limits. Otherwise, a very, very expensive legal recourse is the only option for those whose lives are dangerously impacted by another’s trespassing light.

And this does not apply only to homeowners. Businesses must become intimately engaged in managing their own lights at night.

Mill Street is another classic example of too many and too bright of white and unshielded lights at night.

Crime and safety is often given as the excuse for lighting properties like prison yards, and that simply must stop. The technology exists for dimmable, programmable and targetable lighting, not to mention the advances in very inexpensive video capabilities that deliver a notice instantaneously to the property owner when the device is activated, not to mention sending an accompanying video.

The time for the elimination of dangerous, wasteful and inconsiderate outdoor lighting is now.

~~

[https://sungazette.news provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.]

Bringing Dark Sky Zones to Fairfax

Written By Collin Cope /Originally published in Special to the Fairfax County TimesMay 6, 2022

Bringing Dark Sky Zones to Fairfax

As International Dark Sky Week has come to a close, activists and scientists continue the fight against light pollution

Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

During the week of April 22 through April 30, The International Dark-Sky Association encouraged residents across the country to “Discover the Night” in order to raise awareness of the negatives of light pollution.

During this time, Fairfax residents were encouraged to participate in a dark hour on April 22, wherein individual residents would have a better chance at seeing the night sky while neighbors turned off their lights for the hour between 9 and 10 p.m.

Additionally, Governor Glenn Youngkin released a proclamation recognizing International Dark Skies week and focused on the importance of educating the public.

“Light pollution has scientifically-established economic and environmental consequences, which result in significant impacts amounting to roughly $3 billion per year of wasted energy in the United States and contributes to diminished energy security,” said Youngkin.

As Fairfax County houses an ever-growing population, residents are unequivocally impacted by the increase in light pollution this brings, though many may be unaware of this fact.

“There are plenty of people in the D.C. area who have grown up without ever seeing the milky way,” explained Peter Plavchan, astronomy professor and director of George Mason Observatories.

While some may be unfazed by this, other concerns related to light pollution include its impact on various plants and animals within the natural environment.

“I talk to people that hunt, I talk to people that fish and all this artificial light at night affects that. Additionally, [I am] concerned with how these lights affect the various birds and creatures in the park, as well as nocturnal pollinators,” explained Eileen Kragie, a local light pollution activist.

On top of this, burgeoning research suggests a link between the impact of blue light on the human circadian rhythm, as well as mental health according to Plavchan.

While it can be difficult to predict the long term effects of this pollution on our overall environment, Plavchan expressed that regions which are heavily polluted by light can create problems for astronomers like himself.

“[Astronomers] run away from the light pollution, so the world’s best telescopes are located as far away from large populations as possible or situated in ways such that such light pollution is always shielded by the clouds below us,” said Plavchan.

Despite George Mason University’s public observatory being the largest in the Mid-Atlantic, Plavchan laments that the heavy light pollution present on Mason’s campus makes it difficult to receive the educational benefit of their telescope.

“At GMU, state building codes require light 24/7 and we have a parking garage right next to the observatory with a lit-up roof 24/7,” said Plavchan. “We’ll be using the telescope at 3 or 4 in the morning and there’s no reason for those lights to be on at that particular hour. [Mason] could save a lot of money, just by turning off the lights when they’re not needed.”

Due to the apparent prevalence of light pollution in the region, local activists and astronomers are pushing for Dark Sky designations across the county, with particular emphasis on the campus of George Mason University and the Turner Farm in Great Falls.

While these efforts are ongoing, there are pre-existing regulations in the county aimed at reducing overall light pollution.

According to Tammy Schwab of Turner Farm, one county ordinance mandates that residents may only install new lights which shine downward, rather than towards the sky. Additionally, Plavchan emphasized that shielded lights which face downward, as well as motion-sensing LEDs for a home’s exterior, greatly improve one’s ability to reduce light pollution.

However, while these changes would be relatively easy to implement, an important caveat is that enforcement is uncommon.“The codes are enforced by complaint, so most people don’t even know they exist,” said Kragie.

While the interest in reducing light pollution is far from over, the governor’s words, as well as recent efforts to bring attention to the importance of night sky visibility are very encouraging for those on the forefront.

“We’re excited that the governor has issued this proclamation,” said Plavchan. “We’re excited that Fairfax City held their first annual dark hour earlier last month. And we definitely want to support the lighting regulation of Turner Farm’s observatory and we’d like to see a similar one put in place for George Mason University.”

Fireflies - summer is coming! Protect them!

This article was originally published by the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Summer approaches quickly with winter and spring giving way to the magic and mystery of Mother Nature and her eternal rhythms. Nights shortening and days beginning to stretch to their longest of the year. Flowers, trees, shrubs bloom. The magnificent array of birds return from their winter resting grounds, bringing with them the songs that greet us as daylight comes earlier and earlier.

Summer…the time for picnics, barbecues, lying outside in soft grass and fields, gazing up at the night sky, counting stars, pointing out constellations and shooting stars. Among all of the treasures and magic of summer, fireflies reign supreme. Their lives so short, so fleeting, bringing such delight to all.

Fireflies typically come out from May to late June, though do last into July. The muggy, humid summer environment we have here in Fairfax County is ideal for fireflies (1.). Children are especially captivated by the wonderful blinking of our summer companions. A quintessential summer experience in our area. Or it used to be. These days with population and development growing exponentially, our fireflies are rapidly diminishing. What used to be taken for granted is now hard to find, if not impossible, in many neighborhoods and towns.

Our irresponsible and overuse use of outdoor light at night is severely affecting fireflies’ ability to reproduce. Fireflies need darkness to find dates, to mate, to make little baby fireflies. Even the minutest amount of artificial light adversely affects their ability to find suitable partners to mate.

Learn More: Dark Skies (www.fairfaxcounty.gov)

Along with leaf blowing that goes on all year long these days, fireflies are dying in vast numbers. Fireflies, and other insects, need the mulch of decomposing leaves and organic matter to survive through the winter. Coupled with the use of fertilizers and pesticides, we humans are killing off an untold number of nocturnal pollinators and insect species that we all need for our own survival.

This summer, take time to enjoy the magic of these blinking, joyful, fleeting creatures. Make sure your home has dark sky friendly lighting (2.) and employ the principles for responsible outdoor lighting using these tips below (3.):

• Turn off your outside lights

• Use lights only if they are needed

• Fully shield all lights

• Direct light so that it falls only where it is needed

• Lights should be no brighter than necessary

• Use warmer colored bulbs and ones not too bright

• Remove unneeded landscape and architectural lights

• Turn on lights only when it is needed

• Check to make sure your lights are not trespassing and keep the illumination contained within your own property boundary

Enjoy the magical moments of summer as Mother Nature designed and intended!

References:

1. Fireflies Shed Light on the Benefits of a Natural Yard (Chesapeake Bay Program)

2. Dark Sky Friendly Home Lighting Program (International Dark Sky Week 2023)

3. Five Lighting Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting (International Dark-Sky Association)

Vienna Council marks Int'l Dark Sky Week with proclamation

This article was originally published April 12, 2023 and written by Brian Trompeter on Gazette Leader.

Thomas Reinert Jr., president of the International Dark-Sky Association, and Eileen Kragie, founder of Dark Sky Friends, pose with a proclamation honoring International Dark Sky Week, which Mayor Linda Colbert presented at Vienna Town Hall on April 10, 2023. Photo by Christina Tyler Wenks

Mayor Linda Colbert read a proclamation at the Vienna Town Council’s April 10 meeting honoring April 15 through 22 this year as International Dark Sky Week.

“The aesthetic beauty and wonder of a natural night sky is a shared heritage of all humankind and the experience of standing beneath a starry night sky inspires feelings of wonder and awe and encourages a growing interest in science and nature, especially among young people,” the proclamation read.

Virginia is home to the most “dark sky” parks east of the Mississippi River, according to the document. Many nocturnal animal species rely on undisturbed night environments so they can hunt, mate and thrive, it stated.

Scientists have established that light pollution wastes natural resources, has economic and environmental consequences, causes energy insecurity and negatively affects human health, according to the proclamation.

Colbert then presented a copy of the proclamation to Thomas Reinert Jr., president of the International Dark-Sky Association.

NPR Science: Light pollution frustrates astronomers looking for discoveries - a 3 minute listen

When you look up at the night sky, can you see the stars? If you live in a large city or near one, the answer is probably no. The culprit is not just clouds and weather — it's light pollution.

NPR All Things Considered with Pien Huang

Listen here NPR Science Story Light Pollution

PIEN HUANG, HOST:

When you look up at the night sky, can you see the stars? If you live in a large city or near one, the answer is probably no. The culprit is not just clouds and weather. It's light pollution, and it's getting worse every year. It's a major challenge for some astronomers as it messes with their views of space. I wanted to learn more about the light pollution problem and to see it firsthand.

PETER PLAVCHAN: So this is our telescope.

HUANG: On a recent night, I went 25 miles west of Washington, D.C., out to George Mason University, to get a look at the night sky with astronomer Peter Plavchan. He's the director of their observatory.

PLAVCHAN: One thing you can't control is the weather.

HUANG: It was overcast, humid, not a star to be seen. It was perhaps a fitting night to talk about another big challenge that blocks the view - light pollution.

So research has shown that the night sky has been getting steadily brighter by about 10% a year for the past 10 years. I wonder, from your perspective, what does that mean?

PLAVCHAN: For as long as human civilization has existed, we've made up stories to describe what we see in the night sky, right? The origins of the myths and the naming of the constellations that we have in the night sky - the night sky has been something that we've always been curious about. So in terms of light pollution and how it's impacting us today, we're taking away that opportunity for people to be curious and to wonder about the night sky.

HUANG: Astronomers worry that great discoveries are more difficult to make since it's harder for them to see into space.

PLAVCHAN: If you go back a century, when Edwin Hubble in 1929 discovered that the universe was expanding, he did that using a 100-inch telescope just north of Pasadena, Calif. And he could not make that discovery today at that same telescope.

HUANG: Some stargazers are trying to bring the dark sky back. Along with Professor Plavchan, I met Eileen Kragie. She's the founder of Dark Sky Friends. It's a nonprofit, and it tries to get local governments to pass rules for, quote, "responsible outdoor lighting at night." These are ordinances to keep as much light out of the sky as possible.

So is your vision for us to kind of get back to a place where the only thing that might obscure your view of the stars is the clouds instead of the light?

EILEEN KRAGIE: Oh, that would be really nice, I think. Yeah. And I think it's important that, you know, people understand that dark skies doesn't mean dark ground and that you can traverse your area safely. I was depressed, really depressed before about this. But I am getting really optimistic because there's people across the globe that are really working hard on this.

HUANG: Professor Plavchan is a little less optimistic. He says there's another growing source that's lighting up the night sky.

PLAVCHAN: With the launch of the increasing proliferation of satellites in low Earth orbit, which reflect a lot of sunlight down to us, we can't escape it.

HUANG: Astronomers are pushing back, calling for caps on night lighting from both below and above.

Pien Huang, NPR News.

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: Is freedom from light trespass a right?

This article was originally published in The Fairfax Times

Is freedom from light trespass one of our inalienable rights, granted and established by the words Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness enshrined in the Declaration of Independence? 

Would not the founding forefathers have included this scourge of light trespass and light pollution in our Constitution had it existed then? And furthermore, with the prevalence of this rapidly growing and deadly source of danger, would they not have set up lasting protections for the citizens of this new country they were founding? 

As life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is at the heart of the Declaration of  Independence, how might that apply to light pollution and light trespass? 

Life, one that is not threatened by the health problems artificial light brings to humans, animals, birds, insects, and plants alike with whom we share this globe. 

Liberty, every person, and creature inhabiting this globe have a right to enjoy their home and outdoor environment without relinquishing their rights to another’s glaring and intrusive lighting, be it neighbor, business, municipality, or government entity. 

Pursuit of happiness, we all have a right to step outside at night and be able to look up in wonder and awe at what Mother Nature has created for us above this little spinning blue planet. It is our birthright and heritage. 

It is time for a Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of artificial light that now rules so many lives as a dictator. 

Furthermore, let us relegate blackout curtains to their originally conceived function, keeping light from indoors from escaping out into the night.  

Whether to prevent a clear target for a bombing run from a wartime enemy, or to prevent light from escaping to wreak havoc on the natural nighttime environment that comes alive after the sun sets and darkness descends, they certainly should not function to block light from getting in. 

Unless you wish to sleep after the sun wakes and appears over the horizon, or if you are sensitive to the full moon’s light. Or wish to nap during the day. 

Using blackout curtains that imprison us in our homes by the lights growing in strength and number and power from outside, deprives each and every one of us of a life lived safely and comfortably in our own homes. Depriving each one of us, and our fellow creatures inhabiting this planet; be they mammal, insect, fowl,  fish, or plant, of our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

And if Mother Nature and other countries are not covered under these lofty principles, they certainly should be. 

Windows, skylights, and doors have all gotten larger over the years. Artificial lights have gotten brighter and whiter. So much more light is escaping out of homes and buildings and off of sea-faring vessels than could have ever been imagined.  

A man-made crisis, but certainly not an unsolvable one. Technology now affords programable, dimmable, and targetable lighting today to solve this easily and effectively. 

It is time to protect our world from all intrusive lighting, whether it originates from outside structures, or from within. 

Here in Northern Virginia, from Fairfax County Park Authority’s Turner Farm Park  Observatory to the Observatory on George Mason University’s campus, to  Wolftrap National Park for the Performing Arts, to every park and neighborhood,  light trespass is a clear and present danger to all of our lives, livelihoods and quality of life. 

Relegating blackout curtains to their original purpose, keeping light IN, in conjunction with adopting ROLAN, responsible outdoor light at night, frees us all to enjoy this beautiful and fragile planet day AND night, as countless generations have for centuries before the invention of the lightbulb, barely 100 years ago. 

Eileen Kragie is the founder of Dark Sky Friends an organization that promotes responsible outdoor lighting at night.

Artificial Light Changing the Environment, Not for the Better

This article was originally published on Fairfax County Times.

Responsible use of outdoor lights at night is critical to our lives and to our futures. There is an urgent need to redress this global problem sooner rather than later.  The wide ranging damage these lights are doing across the board in our lives is beginning to make is its way into our consciousness and our worlds.

From the serious human health problems artificial light creates, to the problems astronomers have long known about, to the damage it wreaks on biodiversity and the environment, artificial lights at night, both indoors and out, is changing our lives.  And not for the better.

The mystery of gazing up deeply into a sky filled with billions of twinkling stars, constellations, planets and shooting stars, has been lost to a majority of the population living in both the U.S. and Europe.  Light pollution is growing at twice the rate of the population.  That means that each and every person is using more lights per person than at any other point in time in the history of the world.

The advent of LEDs with their lower lifetime cost to operate has created two serious issues which are now only becoming well known.  One, many more lights are being installed outdoors, whether by municipalities, businesses, or homeowners. An unintended consequence of the lower costs, and because many humans have become adapted to over illumination, and then carry that out with them to new places, is that many more lights are being used.

And two, the LEDS most commonly used are taking a devastating toll on all of our lives. The higher kelvins, color temperature, and the higher lumens, brightness, well exceed anything needed by humans to navigate safely throughout the night.

More lights do not mean safer, as has been commonly advised for years by so many.  Even security companies are now realizing that illuminating a property all night long is not the more effective, nor a cost effective way to deter criminal activity.  This area is now being carefully studied and those involved in public safety are even beginning to understand that smart lighting can provide the benefits sought, without creating the problems most current lighting does.  Targeted, dimmable, programmable lighting exists, and is being adopted by many cities and towns. 

Electric lights have not long been widely in use, only a little more than 100 years.  A significant portion of the existing population, even in very developed urban areas like Washington D.C., still do remember a night sky full of stars, even from the city.

That no longer exists.  Generations are now growing up having never seen the stars, much less the Milky Way.  As artificial outdoor lights steadily continue their creep further and further out into the suburban, and rural areas, even more humans are losing their connection to the night sky and to the night.

Migrating bird populations are being devastated by all of our artificial lights in the cities and regions they must traverse on their annual migrations.  Fireflies, baby hatching turtles, moths, and more are all having their populations decimated in the same fashion.

Education for everyone about the responsible use of outdoor light at night is urgently needed now.  Master lighting plans for every locality, state and region is no longer wishful thinking, they must be written and adopted.  Fixing lighting mistakes and problems after the fact is expensive and simply unnecessary with educated foresight.

This year is shaping up to be the year of responsible use of outdoor light at night, with the ROLAN 2022 global conference wrapping up May 13, World Migratory Bird Day on May 17 focusing on light pollution this year and IDAs International Dark Sky Week in April. And multiple proclamations were issued for IDSW across this region, and across the country, including one from Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. 

Closer to home Turner Farm Park Observatory, a Fairfax County Park Authority park, is well along in its application process as an Urban Night Sky Place, one of the designations awarded by the International Dark Sky Association.  It will be only the sixth one of these designations given to date globally. Along with Fairfax County having the largest on-campus observatory in the mid-Atlantic region at George Mason University, Northern Virginia has many reasons to protect its precious night skies.

The national security element of using energy wisely and minimizing waste is especially important in light of current world events. The renewed interest in and examination of where our energy is originating and how much it is costing will only continue to become a larger factor  in how we choose artificial light.

Light pollution is simple and easy to eliminate with careful, thoughtful, creative designs and integration at the outset of projects, not as an afterthought.  Now, is the time to begin thinking about responsible use of outdoor lights at night.

A dark sky is necessary for plants and animals to thrive

This article was originally published on Our Stories and Perspectives.

The parks in Fairfax County cover almost 10% of the land. This means that parks are near homes and businesses and in rural and urban environments. For those living adjacent to the county’s ecologically fragile parks, it is important to adopt dark sky friendly lighting and light responsibly.

Light trespass and light pollution affect wildlife and plant life in many ways — from confusing migrating bird navigation at night to having an impact in nocturnal creatures’ ability to hunt and feed at night, be they prey or predator.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) can even prevent the fireflies from finding mates in the summer. Migrating birds are especially harmed by light pollution. And high-rise buildings are particularly deadly for them; they either fly into the glass windows, killing them on impact, or the light from the building attracts them and they fly around them in circles, dying from exhaustion.

Animals are adapted to the moon and stars being the only lights visible at night, so when artificial lights become the most prevalent source of light, it harms and confuses them. Baby seas turtles are adapted to find the safety of the sea by moving toward the moon and stars and their reflection off the water. Unfortunately, the artificial light of beach towns can attract baby turtles away from the sea and lead them into danger.

The life cycles of trees and plants are also affected by artificial light at night, either by extending the fall season for them — so that they lose their leaves much later than neighboring trees — or bringing on spring too early. Similarly, outdoor lights left on at night affect pollination by moths. Some varieties of strawberry plant are dependent on the dark of night to produce its fruit. Studies have shown that streetlights near rural farms actually decrease the harvest, as they encourage the plants to leaf out instead of flower and fruit.

This tree lost most of its leaves. The only ones that remain are the ones illuminated by the parking lot lights. These leaves are getting a different signal than the rest of the tree.

Artificial light has confused this shrub. The two buds closest to the light are about to burst, but this photo was taken in October. This plant typically blooms in April and May.

Light pollution is harmful, but it is reversible. Lighting has grown as populations have grown, feeding on the myth that more light is safer.

However, well-designed lighting is safer. Light should be directed down where people need it, and light should be soft in color to protect our vision. Good lighting design benefits people and wildlife.

April 22 is Earth Day and the beginning of International Dark Sky Awareness Week.

Take a minute to reflect on the lighting at your house. Does the light point only where you need it when you need it and just the right amount? If not, consider an upgrade. Visit our new Dark Skies topic page to learn more about light pollution and how we can light responsibly to protect the night.

You can also join us in our One Dark Hour event April 22, 2022. One Dark Hour: Join us and turn off your outdoor lights from 9 to 10 p.m. and look up to enjoy the stars.

Authors: E. Kragie and T. Schwab. Schwab is the Education and Outreach Manager for the Resource Management Division of the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Light Pollution Needs to be Addressed in Residential Neighborhoods

This article was originally published on Fairfax County Times.

Light trespass in residential neighborhoods is becoming an exponential problem and is already a private property rights issue. Shining into homes, yards and parks, blinding drivers, and pedestrians. It is a simple and easy problem to solve by adopting lighting practices that provide better visibility.

Increases in population and development account for a percentage of increasing light pollution but it is exacerbated by the sheer number and styles of lights added to homes and buildings. Examples are porch, lamp post, and riser lights where the bulb or light source can be seen from another property rather than tucked up in the fixture, accent lights directed upward rather than downward, and clusters of lights or high output lights used instead of low light levels that allow the human eye to see better after dark. White and light-colored homes and structures further increase the effects of the light as it reflects off the surfaces. All these practices cause glare, reducing our ability to see and often light trespass.

An additional issue is the use of bright white-colored light. This is indicated by a light’s Kelvin rating. It may be expressed in terms of cool or warm lights. Warm lights, with a lower Kelvin rating, at low light levels have been shown to improve nighttime visibility. We all want to see better. These cool lights have excessive amounts of light in the blue wavelength. Blue light emissions are particularly damaging to human health, animals, and the environment by disturbing the natural circadian rhythms established long before the invention of electric lights. For those of us who enjoy sitting out under the stars, they severely reduce our ability to enjoy the view of our universe.

Steps to solve this problem of light pollution are: 1. All lights should have a clear purpose. 2. Lights should only be on when needed. Use motion detectors and timers to control them. 3. Use shielding and careful aiming to target the direction of the light beam so that it points downward and does not spill beyond where it is needed nor cause light trespass, 4. Lights should be no brighter than necessary. Use the lowest light level required.  Be mindful of surfaces as light-colored surfaces reflect and intensify the light. 5. Minimize blue light emissions, use warmer colored bulbs, whiter LEDs cause more glare, use lights rated no higher than 2700 Kelvin. 

Light trespass is a private property issue. Each resident should be free to illuminate their own property with lighting that stays on their property and does not go above the structures on their property to damage our common view of the night sky.

Our property rights should be protected so that no one has unwanted artificial lights intruding onto their property. Artificial lighting from off-site can destroy a person’s ability to enjoy their property. This unwanted light trespassing onto another’s property is a nuisance.

Particularly as the trend of over-illumination encroaches upon quiet and historically dark suburban neighborhoods, the answer is stopping light pollution, not installing more blackout curtains. 

Fairfax County has made light pollution one of its environmental goals for years, is becoming a leader among municipalities that recognize this problem, is addressing it and beginning to solve the issue.  

However, the current residential outdoor lighting ordinances in this county do not protect the majority of residents from light trespass. This must change. It is time to enact outdoor lighting ordinances that protect every neighbor, be they human, animal, insect, plant, or celestial object.

 E Kragie

Vienna