{"id":54370,"date":"2025-09-17T20:31:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T15:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=54370"},"modified":"2025-09-18T13:19:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T07:49:47","slug":"light-pollution-impacting-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/17-09-2025\/light-pollution-impacting-biodiversity","title":{"rendered":"Light Pollution Impacting Biodiversity\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A recent global study has found that <strong>artificial ligh<\/strong>t at night is significantly <strong>altering bird behaviour,<\/strong> causing many species to<strong> stay active for up to an hour longer after sunset<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Is Light Pollution?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Light pollution refers to the excessive or inappropriate use of artificial outdoor lighting, which disrupts natural darkness.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It disrupts ecosystems, obscures the night sky, and affects human health and energy efficiency.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Causes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Urbanisation<\/strong>: Expansion of cities leads to more streetlights, billboards, and building illumination.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Over use: <\/strong>Use of artificial lighting beyond what is necessary, especially in commercial zones and residential areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increase in commercial Activity:&nbsp; <\/strong>&nbsp;Bright signage and lighting in malls, petrol stations, and industrial zones contribute significantly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unregulated Use of LEDs: <\/strong>&nbsp;While energy-efficient, high-intensity LEDs often emit blue light, which scatters more in the atmosphere.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Impacts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/environment-and-ecology\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/environment-and-ecology\/\">Environmental and Ecological<\/a>: <\/strong>Nocturnal animals, migratory birds, and insects rely on natural light cycles.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Birds living in brightly lit areas tend to sing earlier at dawn and later at dusk, disrupting their natural rhythms and negatively impacting migration, feeding, and breeding patterns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Similar effects occur in species like fireflies, whose communication suffers. Artificial lighting confuses navigation and feeding patterns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Altered light exposure affects flowering and photosynthesis cycles of Plant Growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Human Health: <\/strong>Exposure to artificial light at night suppresses melatonin production, leading to insomnia and other health issues.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chronic exposure to light pollution has been linked to increased stress and reduced cognitive performance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Astronomy and Scientific Research:&nbsp; <\/strong>Brightening of the night sky hampers astronomical observations, especially near urban centers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Energy Waste: <\/strong>Billions of units of electricity are wasted annually due to poorly directed lighting, increasing carbon emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Suggestions and Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Light pollution is a rising issue that harms health, environment, and connection to the night sky.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In urban planning, adopting Dark Sky-compliant lighting and enforcing zoning regulations can reduce unnecessary illumination, especially in residential and ecologically sensitive areas.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Governments should strengthen the implementation of national lighting codes and incentivize smart lighting systems like motion sensors and timers.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Public engagement through citizen science initiatives and integrating light pollution topics into educational curricula can raise awareness.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source :<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/148344\/OPS\/GC0ESBBLT.1+GJAETEUG7.1.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">A recent global study has found that artificial light at night is significantly altering bird behaviour, causing many species to stay active for up to an hour longer after sunset.\u00a0<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What Is Light Pollution?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Light pollution refers to the excessive or inappropriate use of artificial outdoor lighting, which disrupts natural darkness.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It disrupts ecosystems, obscures the night sky, and affects human health and energy efficiency.\u00a0<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/17-09-2025\/light-pollution-impacting-biodiversity\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54370"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54438,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54370\/revisions\/54438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}