In today’s
time, people living in the cities or close to the cities cannot see the stars
in the sky. As the population grows bigger and bigger, open space lighting gets
more and more common; and consequently, the light reflecting on the sky. The light reflects on the molecules in the
sky and comes back to our eyes, which prevents us from seeing the beauties of
the sky. However, as we go outside the city, we way observe the Milky Way and
many other stars. It is a widely known fact that the light reflecting from the
earth to the sky is both harmful to the environment and prohibitory of the universe
glory.
However,
abuse and overuse of light is not only affecting our sight but also harming the
animals, plants and nation’s economy.
Natural effects on trees
According to
the report of Cumhuriyet newspaper on July 5, 2014, more than 15 trees are
dried and deadly harmed by the green lights hanged on them for decoration on
St. Cinnah. Prof. Dr. Zeki Aslan, upon this harm, started to observe and
investigate these trees; and he realized that the trees are decorated with
green LED lights which are used for lighting of TVs, computers and phones. An
article of IDA argues that bluish-white open space lights are harmful for the
natural environment and life.
Since the
beginning of the world, its life and the living beings’ lives are dependent on
the day-night circulation. This harmony of biology has taken such a long time
that in that time all the biologic beings adapted to that and their DNA and their
metabolic activities are affected by it. The living beings make use of the
outsider signals to readapt itself to the changing conditions and day and night
– light and darkness – are among the most important signals for them to sleep,
feed, breed, fight the dangers and reproduce; and also photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis is producing nutrition and energy for the plant out of carbon
dioxide with the help of sunlight and chlorophyll.
The length of the night –
the darkness – affects the storage of the nutrition which is produced by the
photosynthesis. Abuse of the night lights shortens the storage process while it
prolongs the production of the nutrition and energy. In the long run, this breaks
the routine of the photosynthesis and the growth of the plant.
According to what Prof. Dr. Zeki Aslan argues, the reason behind those
dried out trees is the abuse of the light which breaks the photosynthesis
routine of the trees – production and storage routine –. Abuse and overuse of
the night lights in the cities not only affect the animal and plant populations
but also the nation’s economy. The professor puts forwards that the cost for
the lightning in only Eskişehir is 1.4 million Turkish Liras while it estimated
to be 160 million in whole Turkey, which is high above the necessary.
The way that LEDs are economical in energy use does not mean that we
should use them all around the buildings without caring about the plant and
animal life. We can start with turning off the decorative lights of these
buildings – such as shopping centers and billboards – at night when it is not
necessary. We should contact with the municipalities and try to persuade them
to handle this.
According to the related literature, the abuse of lighting also lets the
thieves and criminals hide easily. Compared to the cities where lightning is
used correctly, there is much more criminal rates in the cities where lightning
is abused. That’s, avoiding the abuse of lightning helps a nation get secure.
The biggest problem here is that the unconscious and indifferent
individuals and administrators. The research for correct and productive use of
lightning is appreciated in most of the countries around the world while it is
not the case in Turkey. Even though we train individuals to be more careful
about the use of lights, we cannot get much financial support from the
administrators.
Then, what can we do to avoid light pollution? The answer is simple; we
should let the municipality know about the abuse; use lightning correctly in
our houses and work places; and train people around us for correct lightning.
All in all, we should recognise this as a global problem and do not ignore
this.