doi: 10.1289/ehp.117-a20.
Missing the dark: health effects of light pollution
- PMID:19165374
- PMCID: PMC2627884
- DOI: 10.1289/ehp.117-a20
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Missing the dark: health effects of light pollution
Ron Chepesiuk. Environ Health Perspect.2009 Jan.
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Glare, overillumination, and sky glow (which makes the sky over a city look orange, yellow, or pink) are all forms of light pollution. These photos were taken in Goodwood, Ontario, a small town about 45 minutes northeast of Toronto during and the night after the regionwide 14 August 2003 blackout. The lights inside the house in the blackout picture were created by candles and flashlights.
How Outdoor Lighting Translates into Light Pollution
Turtle hatchlings instinctively orient away from the dark silhouette of the nighttime shore. Here hatchlings have been temporarily distracted by a bright lamp. Hatchlings and mother turtles distracted by shorefront lights can wander onto nearby roadways.
Increase in Artificial Night Sky Brightness in North America
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified shift work as a probable human carcinogen. A study in the December 2008 issue of Sleep found that use of light exposure therapy, sunglasses, and a strict sleep schedule may help night-shift workers achieve a better-balanced circadian rhythm.
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