On Sunday November 15, Woods & Wetlands is delighted to present Ken Walczak of Dark Skies International to share their work and aspirations. In human history, our ancestors experienced a sky brimming with stars! Dark skies were the source of myths, legends and navigation, while the night sky inspired science, religion, philosophy, art, and literature. On a summer canoe trip in Canada at the Quetico Provincial Park, the dark skies we have lost, miraculously became visible to me. Those dark skies were instrumental in bringing this November Speaker Series to you. To begin, consider the effects of light pollution. It is the human-made modification of outdoor light levels from those occurring naturally. Light pollution impacts wildlife, human quality of life, wastes natural resources and energy and contributes to climate change. Needless to say, light pollution blocks our view of the Universe. For billions of years, life on Earth has relied on the predictable rhythms of day and night. Earth’s plants and animals have evolved with this rhythm encoded in their DNA. We humans have radically disrupted this cycle by lighting up the night Plants and animals depend on Earth’s daily cycle of light and dark to govern life-sustaining behaviors such as reproduction, nourishment, sleep, and protection from predators. Current scientific research suggests that artificial light at night has negative and deadly effects on many creatures, including amphibians, birds, mammals, insects, and plants. Humans have also been impacted by light pollution. Some scientists believe the body’s production of melatonin; a natural sleep hormone, is confused by light pollution. It may upsetting our normal sleep/wake cycles. Lighting levels that are higher than necessary and artificial light that shines when and where it’s not needed is wasteful. Wasting energy has huge economic and environmental consequences. According to Dark Skies International in an average year in the U.S, outdoor lighting uses about 120 terawatt-hours of energy, mostly to illuminate streets and parking lots. That’s enough energy to meet New York City’s total electricity needs for two years! Dark Sky estimates that least 30 percent of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. alone is wasted, mostly by lights that aren’t correctly shielded. That adds up to $3.3 billion and the release of 21 million tons of carbon dioxide per year! To offset all that carbon dioxide, we’d have to plant 875 million trees annually. Please register here and join us to hear Ken Walczak share information about the work of Dark Skies International.

Photo by Linda Tilton