Light pollution has always been taken lightly (HAHA get the pun?). But, it is equally serious as other types of pollution like plastic, air and marine pollution. Take a few minutes of your time to watch the video above to understand why light pollution is more serious than most people think.
To summarize the key points above:
- Ecosystem depend on the day-night cycle. When artificial light is added into the system, it throws both flora and fauna off balance
- Baby sea turtles: Very difficult to find their way to ocean after hatching at night (might get eaten by predator instead OUCH)
- Zooplanktons: Do not rise up to feed on algae at night = contribute to algae bloom
- Coral Species: Naturally relies on moon’s phases to release their sperm and eggs into water. Light pollution then may then mask the moon’s phases which result in corals not spawning at the right time = lesser new corals
- Birds: Those that migrate at night may crash into towers or skyscrapers that are lit or circle them until they die of exhaustion
- Salamanders: Since they wait till after dusk to forage, they would wait longer. Thus, get lesser food.
- Frogs and Toads: Males might not ribbit if area is too well lit and females would not have anyone to respond back to and possibly mate
- Humans: Disruption to melatonin production, increased risk of cancer, etc (I don’t want to dwell too much on humans)
In just one video, we can see how so many different animals are being affected in different ways. Yet, we hardly even pay attention to the negative impacts that animals face because of light pollution. I hope that you are now more aware in the different ways that animals can be affected. Bear in mind, these examples are not exhaustive.
References
The European Sting (2018) Available at: https://europeansting.com/2019/11/08/this-is-why-coral-reefs-are-so-vital-for-the-planet/ [image]
The New Yorker (2015) Avaliable at: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/sea-turtle-season [image]
Youtube: Light pollution is more dangerous than you think. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYAzTYmXMBg
Look for the next post as dive deeper into a particular species !! Want to take a guess? (Hint: they hang upside down when sleeping)