Like many homeowners, you are taking steps to reduce your carbon footprint at home. You dutifully recycle glass, metal, paper, and plastic waste each week. You replace all the incandescent light bulbs in your home with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) or LED light bulbs. However, you may be unwittingly contributing to carbon emissions and interfering with delicate ecosystems through light pollution.
Light pollution, unlike other forms of contamination and waste, remains largely overlooked and unregulated in our country. In 2020, a team of scientists, led by Astrophysicist Dr. Joseph Caruana from the Department of Physics and the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy (ISSA) of the University of Malta, carried out a landmark study that quantified the problem of light pollution in Malta. The study found that the vast majority of the area of the Maltese Islands is heavily light polluted, with the Milky Way being visible for just 12.8% of their area. Moreover, the measurements showed that the night sky’s brightness was increasing over time, effectively meaning that the problem of light pollution is getting worse.
Light pollution, also known as photo pollution or luminous pollution, is the excessive, misdirected, or invasive use of artificial outdoor lighting. Mismanaged lighting alters the colour and contrast of the night-time sky, eclipses natural starlight, and disrupts circadian rhythms (the 24-hour processes of most organisms), which in turn affect the environment, energy resources, wildlife, humans, and astronomy research. The threat of light pollution continues to grow as the demand for artificial light increases each year. As Malta continues to become affluent and urbanised, demand for outdoor lighting increases, and light pollution spreads beyond the city limits and into suburban and rural areas. Luminous pollution is further caused by using outdoor lights when and where they are not necessary. Poorly designed residential, commercial, and industrial outdoor lights also contribute significantly to light pollution.
The dire medical consequences of light pollution on humans can never be stressed enough. We are regulated by circadian rhythms, the physical, mental, and behavioural changes that occur in a 24-hour cycle. The circadian clock regulates physiological activities such as brain wave patterns, hormone production, and cell regulation. The rhythms respond to the light and darkness around an organism. Disrupting these rhythms can result in a variety of health problems, including sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, diabetes, cancer (particularly breast and prostate cancer), cardiovascular disease, immunological disorders, and obesity. Melatonin, the naturally occurring hormone that regulates sleep and wake cycles, is acutely affected by light pollution. The hormone is activated by darkness and repressed by light. Melatonin deficiency can result in anxiety and mood disorders, insomnia, and an elevated oestrogen/progesterone ratio.
Light pollution is costing us more than just the nighttime. The rate at which artificial lighting has increased across our islands is exponential, and if you look at satellite footage of street lighting and how that has changed over the past two decades, it is almost frightening to watch. While sometimes feeble attempts are made to make us aware of the existence of light pollution, the drive to minimize light pollution is not driven by the need to protect our health or the environment but more about energy efficiency and keeping costs down. It is not just about how much light there is but also what type of light is being produced. In some cases, energy-efficient lighting such as blue-rich LEDs can be just as bad (or even worse) for plant and animal life out there as less energy-efficient options. Some types of energy-efficient lighting produce more UV light than older styles of lighting. We, as humans, cannot see it, so it is perhaps of no use to us but can disturb natural habitats out there.
We have become awash in electric light. Powerful lamps light up streets, yards, parking lots, and billboards. Sports facilities blaze with light that is visible from miles away. Business and office building windows glow throughout the night. The blue glow of our rock is visible from an aeroplane miles away. Perhaps stargazing in Malta is something that can only happen at Esplora. It is only when there is the occasional widespread power outage that we can get a glimpse of a strange giant, silvery cloud in the dark sky, whereas what we will really be seeing, for the first time for some, is the Milky Way, long obliterated by the urban sky glow. None of this is to say that electric lights are inherently bad. Artificial light has benefited society by, for instance, extending the length of the productive day, offering more time not just for working but also for recreational activities that require light. But when artificial outdoor lighting becomes inefficient, annoying, and unnecessary, it is the last straw. Many environmentalists, naturalists, and medical researchers consider light pollution to be one of the fastest-growing and most pervasive forms of environmental pollution.
The issue of light pollution has not seen significant research interest in Malta, and we have not yet enacted appropriate legislation to reduce the dangers of light pollution. Legislating light pollution should ostensibly fall within the parameters of environmental protection laws, but the Environmental and Development Planning Act (CAP 504) was the most recent provision for environmental protection laws, and it makes no mention of light pollution specifically. The only particular initiative to somehow control light pollution was when, in 2020, the Planning Authority issued guidelines for reducing this pollution in the Maltese Islands. Yet, that is not enough and falls short of expectations. The most common legislation would require the installation of shielded light fixtures that emit light only downward, require the use of low-glare or low-wattage lighting, regulate the amount of time certain lighting can be used, or incorporate illuminating engineering guidelines into state regulations.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder where you are. Looking up is not a solution. The sky is so full of light pollution.
Dr. Mark Said is a lawyer