November has finally arrived! With just a month away from Christmas, the excitement of the holiday season is slowly creeping in. According to Orchard Road Business Association, the annually awaited Christmas decorations along Orchard Road will begin on the 13th of November this year (Nazren, 2020)! How exciting!
2020 Orchard Road Christmas Decoration Plans (Source: ORBA)
However, having learnt much about the ills of light pollution, it led me thinking about the severity of celebratory lighting in the holiday season…
Festivals
A study conducted by the US space agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration utilised infrared satellite cameras to track the changes in night time illumination for three years from 2012 to 2014 (Morelle, 2014).
Christmas
Their data revealed that In the United States, artificial light illumination increased by 20-50% during the Christmas and New Year, typically observing a marked increase in brightness from Thanksgiving (Morelle, 2014). Surprisingly, in explaining the increases in night time illumination, the installation of festive lighting was not the primary reason but instead, the predominant reason was attributed to increased residential light usage as a result of people spending more time at home than at work (Morelle, 2014).
Ramadan
The same study also highlighted that selective cities saw a 100% increase in light illumination during the month of Ramadan in the Middle East (Morelle, 2014). Similarly, the increase in illumination was attributed to the changing human lifestyle patterns. In particular, as Muslims fast from day break till the sun sets, their daily activities such as meal times occur in later parts of the day (Morelle, 2014). Hence, the extension of market hours into the night as well as residential lights contribute to the overall increase in light illumination. However, the study also highlighted that lights in the Middle East peaked at the end of Ramadan during the festival of Eid (Morelle, 2014).
Solutions
Altogether, these findings provide insight into the effects of cultural festivities on light illumination globally. Beyond looking at solving our everyday lighting such as outdoor and indoor lightings, as well as residential and commercial light emissions, we also ought to consider the effects of seasonal light behaviours. Undoubtedly, an area for improvement will be to impose restrictions on the light intensities allowed in the installation of decorations. In countries like China, light shows revolving around Chinese New Year are particularly blinding.
Xiaonan Fesitval in Xi’an Celebrating Chinese New Year
Forbidden City Light Show in Beijing Celebrating the Spring Festival
However, as the above study has revealed, the effects of festivities go well beyond light decorations. Light pollution is also heavily intertwined into the seasonal change in our routines. Since this is a less intuitive factor contributing to light pollution, it would be beneficial if the state or other entities are able to play a part in pushing out educational campaigns to remind people to be more mindful in their light usage during the holiday season. In the next post, we will continue to explore the effects of celebratory lighting beyond seasonal festivities.
Till next time!
Trudie
References:
- Morelle, R. (2014, December 17). Festival lights viewed from space. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30525559
- Nazren, F. (2020, October 5). Orchard road physical & virtual Christmas light-up to happen from Nov. 13, 2020 to Jan. 1, 2021. Mothership.SG. https://mothership.sg/2020/10/orchard-road-christmas-hybrid-light-up/