There was an excellent editorial this week in the New York Times about the dark skies initiative dealing with light pollution:
Scientists are only now studying how perpetual twilight affects the lives of birds and other animals, but there is no doubt that a clear, starry night has become a diminishing human pleasure.
Huge, electrified cities spread their nighttime glow for miles. On a 9-point scale — with 1 being a truly dark night — New York City ranks as a 9 and most suburbs seldom reach below a 5. Light is so pervasive that during a blackout in Los Angeles, some residents became alarmed at a liquidlike substance that had taken over the sky. It was, of course, the Milky Way.
See the group’s website to learn more about the Dark Skies Initiative