Dark skies initiative aims to help birds, stargazers

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

Read the complete editorial