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Light pollution is the presence of any unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial lighting. [1] [2] In a descriptive sense, the term light pollution refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting sources, during the day or night. Light pollution can be understood not only as a phenomenon resulting from a specific source or kind ...
Ecological light pollution [1] is the effect of artificial light on individual organisms and on the structure of ecosystems as a whole.. The effect that artificial light has upon organisms is highly variable, [2] and ranges from beneficial (e.g. increased ability for predator species to observe prey) to immediately fatal (e.g. moths that are attracted to incandescent lanterns and are killed by ...
Skyglow, and more generally light pollution, has various negative effects: from aesthetic diminishment of the beauty of a star-filled sky, through energy and resources wasted in the production of excessive or uncontrolled lighting, to impacts on birds [22] and other biological systems, [23] including humans.
Artificial light at night is one of the most obvious physical changes that humans have made to the biosphere, and is the easiest form of pollution to observe from space. [297] The main environmental impacts of artificial light are due to light's use as an information source (rather than an energy source).
While all scattered light is polarized to some extent, light is highly polarized at a scattering angle of 90° from the light source. In most cases the light source is the Sun, but the Moon creates the same pattern as well. The degree of polarization first increases with increasing distance from the Sun, and then decreases away from the Sun.
Producing, transporting, or consuming energy all have an environmental impact. [3] Energy has been harnessed by human beings for millennia. Initially it was with the use of fire for light, heat, cooking and for safety, and its use can be traced back at least 1.9 million years. [4]
A pollutant or novel entity [1] is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oil) or anthropogenic in origin (i.e. manufactured materials or byproducts).
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. [1] Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring ...