THE IMPACT AND RISK OF LIGHT POLLUTION VERSUS THE NEED OF SKY CONSERVATION
THE IMPACT AND RISK OF LIGHT POLLUTION VERSUS THE NEED OF SKY CONSERVATION

Summary/Abstract: The natural night sky has always been a part of our heritage, a wonderful gift of humans, a true portal for understanding the entire Universe that hovers not only over the past, but also over the present and future of all humanity. However, a phenomenon with complex connotations represented by light pollution, was able to separate humanity from all the benefits of the starry sky and thus close the window to the Universe. Light pollution has become over time a very real and emerging environmental problem very closely related to the intensification of industrialization and urbanization, demographic growth as well as technological development.The consequences of light pollution are not wide-ranging but can also generate serious risks for many aspects of life on Earth, harming biodiversity and wildlife, harming human health as well as global energy efficiency, contributing thus to the phenomenon of climate change. There are reasons why this alarming phenomenon is situated at the top of some of the most pressing global issues. The consequences generated by light pollution on the environment are an area of great concern of the science of global change, although light pollution does not equal other global change phenomena of great concern and interest.The problem that arises frequently is that of recognizing the human right to a starry sky. The right to preserve the sky is a modern theory, which has become a constant concern in recent decades, as a result of installation and perception of an unusual form of pollution, namely light pollution, a pollution capable of exerting a major anthropogenic pressure on the environment on a global scale (Challéat, 2021) (Sánchez de Miguel, 2022).

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