Light has such an excellent reputation. For religions everywhere, it is a symbol of hope. Historically, it is a symbol of reason, bringing humans out of the dark ages and into the Enlightenment. In just 150 years, electric lights have gone from a rare luxury to an essential resource. Few would argue that it has not boosted our overall quality of life. We depend on it and demand it. When the lights go out, we feel helpless.
But now it seems that our desire for light has gotten out of control. Artificial lights at night (ALAN) are everywhere: flood lights, digital billboards, decorative fixtures, brighter and more elaborate headlights, cruise ships, amusement parks, casinos and more. Its presence has gone beyond the point of just meeting our needs and has entered the realm of the absurd.
As our desire for bigger, more fantastic displays of light grows, along with our population, we are slowly losing a less appreciated and more humble resource: the dark. The earth is getting up to 10% brighter each year. One imagines that, at this rate, we’ll eventually be living in a world of 24/7 illumination, and the residents of future earth will be paying for the experience of darkness, just to escape.
But while humans are quite good at adapting to whatever self-imposed “daymare” we create, the rest of the animals that we share the earth with are not. Consider this situation from the point of view of insects, a group of animals that have been around for more than 400 million years, evolving with only the moon and the sun as consistent sources of light, which they rely upon for navigation. For them, these last 150 years of steadily increasing ALAN has confused them, impacting their reproduction and survival, contributing to their overall decline. Because so many other animals rely on them, the effects reverberate all the way through the food web, harming birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and other invertebrates.
About half of our insects are active at night, and for those of us who have lived long enough to remember, one need not look further than the front porch to see that they are disappearing. A light at night that was once smothered with segmented visitors is now a veritable dead zone. A clever spider who once enjoyed an easy, opulent feast, must now feel lucky to land a skinny midge or two.
While insects are declining due to many human activities, including habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change, ALAN is equally problematic but often overlooked. For the same reasons we need to establish more native meadows, leave the leaves, find alternatives to pesticides and transition away from fossil fuels, we also need to dim down the lights.
How will this happen? At least 19 states and 30 New Hampshire communities have already adopted some form of “dark sky” regulation. Though the rationale is usually in the interest of astronomy or “preserving rural character,” not to protect insects, the fact that some of these regulations already exist may be a good starting point for more comprehensive action.
Unfortunately, however, the biodiversity crisis is unfolding rapidly, and making legislative changes takes time. So, my fellow nature-loving citizens, it is up to us. Businesses and residents alike can take meaningful action in our outdoor spaces by removing or turning off all unnecessary outdoor lighting and/or replacing necessary outdoor lighting with motion lighting.
If you care, please spread the word. The perilous condition of nature is the most important issue of our time and if we don’t change the way we think and the way we behave, we will lose it forever.
Lights out, everyone. The fireflies thank you.
Caelin Graber of Greenville is a lifelong nature enthusiast. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in entomology. She presently works as a nurse educator in Merrimack.