Benefits and costs of artificial nighttime lighting of the environment

Abstract

Artificial lighting has transformed the outdoor nighttime environment over large areas, modifying natural cycles of light in terms of timing, wavelength, and distribution. This has had widespread benefits and costs to humankind, impacting on health and wellbeing, vehicle accidents, crime, energy consumption and carbon emissions, aesthetics, and wildlife and ecosystems. Here, we review these effects, particularly in the context of ongoing developments in the extent of artificial lighting and in the prevalent technologies being employed. The key issue that emerges is how best to maximize the benefits of artificial nighttime lighting whilst limiting the costs. To do so, three main strategies are required. First, important knowledge gaps need to be filled. Second, there is an urgent need to connect the research being conducted in different disciplines, which to date has been very disjointed. Third, it is imperative that much firmer and well-developed links are made between research, policy, and practice.Key words: accidents, aesthetics, crime, ecosystems, health, light pollution, lighting, night, sky glow, wellbeing.Résumé : L'éclairage artificiel a transformé l'environnement nocturne extérieur sur de grandes superficies, modifiant les cycles naturels de la lumière en terme de temps, de longueurs d'ondes et de distribution. Ceci s'est traduit par des coûts et bénéfices largement étendus pour l'humanité, affectant la santé et le bien-être, les accidents d'automobile, le crime, la consommation d'énergie et les émissions de carbones, l'esthétique ainsi que la faune et les écosystèmes. Les auteurs passent en revue ces effets, particulièrement dans le contexte de développement continu dans l'extension de l'éclairage artificiel et dans les technologies dominantes mises en oeuvre. La problématique clé qui en émerge consiste à savoir comment maximiser le mieux possible les bénéfices de l'éclairage nocturne artificiel tout en limitant les coûts. Pour atteindre cet objectif, trois stratégies principales s'imposent. Il faut d'abord combler des déficiences de connaissances. Deuxièmement, il existe un urgent besoin d'intégrer les travaux de recherche conduits dans diverses disciplines, lesquels ont été conduits de façon disparate jusqu'ici. Et troisièmement, il est impératif que des liens beaucoup plus solides et mieux développés se développent entre la recherche, les politiques et la pratique. [Traduit par la Redaction]

Dose‐response effects of light at night on the reproductive physiology of great tits (Parus major): Integrating morphological analyses with candidate gene expression

“…This increase has been recently quantified as 6% per year worldwide (Falchi et al., ). The presence of light pollution alters natural regimes of light and darkness (Davies, Bennie, Inger, & Gaston, ), and this can have important consequences for human health and economy (Gaston, Gaston, Bennie, & Hopkins, ). The ecological consequences of ALAN were first recognized in the early 20th century (Rowan, ), but have only recently become an important focus of scientific research.…”

“…The presence of light pollution alters natural regimes of light and darkness (Davies, Bennie, Inger, & Gaston, 2013), and this can This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. have important consequences for human health and economy (Gaston, Gaston, Bennie, & Hopkins, 2014). The ecological consequences of ALAN were first recognized in the early 20th century (Rowan, 1937), but have only recently become an important focus of scientific research.…”

Nature, extent and ecological implications of night‐time light from road vehicles

“…Perhaps more so than with static lighting, a key challenge will be to determine the relative importance Datta, Samanta, Sinha, and Chakrabarti (2016) of drivers and the avoidance of risks and discomfort of other road users. By contrast, streetlights serve a wide range of purposes, including safety, security, social benefit, and aesthetics, although their general importance for some of these (including impacts on levels of vehicle accidents and crime) is hotly disputed (Gaston, Gaston, Bennie, & Hopkins, 2015). Second, recent developments in headlight technology have not been strongly driven by concerns to further reduce energy demands (albeit there are clearly limits to what can be supplied) and carbon dioxide emissions, or further prolonging the life span of lamps.…”

The Value of Darkness: A Moral Framework for Urban Nighttime Lighting

“…There are two reasons for the choice to exclude safety from this framework. First, research and discussions about safety and security at night rarely articulate darkness as valuable —instead, most research seeks to show that it is value-neutral by questioning the assumed relationship between more light and more safety (e.g., Bogard 2013; Gaston et al 2015; Henderson 2010). Second, safety at night does not lead to any environmentally-relevant value of darkness.…”

“…For example, the relationship between this framework and safety—in particular the complex dynamics of nighttime illumination, perceptions of safety, and actual safety—is an important topic for future research. Despite assumptions that brighter lights create safer nights, studies have reached contradictory conclusions regarding what level of lighting actually reduces traffic accidents and crime, and question whether lighting is the most pertinent factor to consider (Gaston et al 2015; Henderson 2010). However, nighttime lighting has long been symbolically connected to safety and security (Schlör 1998), and a fear of the dark is arguably an innate human quality (Ekirch 2005).…”