A short video seeks to stem the rising tide of light pollution, which is robbing Earth of its dark night skies.
Light pollution doesn’t just make it more difficult for professional and backyard astronomers to observe the heavens, according to the 6.5-minute film, which is called “Losing the Dark.” The loss of darkness also disrupts wildlife, wastes resources and adversely impacts human health.
“Exposure to light at night disrupts the circadian rhythms that regulate our sleep cycles,” narrator Carolyn Collins Petersen says in the video, which was created by the International Dark Sky Association in collaboration with Loch Ness Productions as a public service announcement. “People working at night under bright lights or living in light-polluted cities face a higher risk of developing diseases such as breast and prostrate cancer.”