Available online for viewing, the atlas shows how and where our globe is lit up at night. This became glaringly obvious when the World Atlas of Night Sky Brightness, a computer-generated map based on thousands of satellite photos, was published in 2016. Light pollution, the excessive or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light, is affecting human health, wildlife behavior, and our ability to observe stars and other celestial objects. However, like carbon dioxide emissions and plastic, too much of a good thing has started to negatively impact the environment.

Today, automobile emissions are a major source of air pollution contributing to climate change, and plastics fill our ocean, creating a significant health hazard to marine animals.Īnd what about the electric lightbulb, thought to be one of the greatest human inventions of all time? Electric light can be a beautiful thing, guiding us home when the sun goes down, keeping us safe and making our homes cozy and bright. Take, for example, the automobile or that miraculous human-made material, plastic. Most environmental pollution on Earth comes from humans and their inventions.

The dying light only prompt is open