Alexander Besant
RYOT News
Astronauts currently onboard the International Space Station (ISS) are showing the world just how much light pollution Light-emitting diodes (LED) create (see photo).
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| Photo: Samantha Cristoforetti/NASA. |
While many think that this form of lighting is environmentally-friendly given how much energy it saves, it comes with one major problem: it emits a ton of blue light, which sharply increases light pollution. So much so that the difference between LED lighting and normal, old-fashioned high-pressure sodium lights can be seen from outer space.
The photo, taken by Italian astronaut, shows the stark difference between center and suburb of the city of Milan, which began transitioning to LEDs in 2012.
Before that transition Milan’s lights would have appeared rather uniform and consistent from center to suburbs. Now the center is dramatically brighter.
Milan is just one of many cities, including New York, that is transitioning to LED lighting to save power. This doesn’t come without consequences: an increase in blue, green lighting that directly affects our internal clocks and could make it more difficult to sleep.
Soon all of the world’s cities may look like the inside of a McDonald’s.
