Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK – People escaping light pollution where they live have forded an icy creek and are rediscovering the night, wandering around on mystical moist sand in the near-total darkness of this wilderness.
They covet silence and stars — splayed across a moonless sky revealing the Milky Way Galaxy — increasingly popular assets at national parks nationwide.
Some sit for hours. Some lie on their backs. Some use headlamps to navigate, softening the glare using the red filters favored on nocturnal military missions.
“Light pollution is terrible. It disrupts your natural sleep system. This is just so gorgeous,” said Jonathan Rhoton, 36, joined by his spouse, Brooke, their daughter Olivia, 4, and friends from Oklahoma City.
“Words cannot say why you go out here,” he said.
Darkness is increasingly rare. And land managers here and at other U.S. national parks — joined by more and more towns — are trying to set themselves up as preserves by obtaining official “dark sky” designations. They’re hoping these will serve as protection against an onslaught of light pollution.
How bad is it? The latest ground measurements and satellite data, showing widespread washout from oil and gas industry flares and floodlights, have established that more than half of Americans no longer can see the main features of Earth’s celestial neighborhood, such as the horseshoe-shaped Milky Way, from their home communities.
The primary culprit in cities such as Denver is street lights, which lack hoods that direct light downward and shoot out white light that scatters. And developers increasingly install ultra-bright light-emitting diode signs and digital billboards, luring consumers like moths to malls, fast food and car lots but further diminishing night skies.
Light pollution is stealing your view of the stars. National parks want to give it back – The Denver Post
Light pollution is pretty bad.
They covet silence and stars — splayed across a moonless sky revealing the Milky Way Galaxy — increasingly popular assets at national parks nationwide.
Some sit for hours. Some lie on their backs. Some use headlamps to navigate, softening the glare using the red filters favored on nocturnal military missions.
“Light pollution is terrible. It disrupts your natural sleep system. This is just so gorgeous,” said Jonathan Rhoton, 36, joined by his spouse, Brooke, their daughter Olivia, 4, and friends from Oklahoma City.
“Words cannot say why you go out here,” he said.
Darkness is increasingly rare. And land managers here and at other U.S. national parks — joined by more and more towns — are trying to set themselves up as preserves by obtaining official “dark sky” designations. They’re hoping these will serve as protection against an onslaught of light pollution.
How bad is it? The latest ground measurements and satellite data, showing widespread washout from oil and gas industry flares and floodlights, have established that more than half of Americans no longer can see the main features of Earth’s celestial neighborhood, such as the horseshoe-shaped Milky Way, from their home communities.
The primary culprit in cities such as Denver is street lights, which lack hoods that direct light downward and shoot out white light that scatters. And developers increasingly install ultra-bright light-emitting diode signs and digital billboards, luring consumers like moths to malls, fast food and car lots but further diminishing night skies.
Light pollution is stealing your view of the stars. National parks want to give it back – The Denver Post
Light pollution is pretty bad.
