"[T]he presence of [artificial light at night] can disrupt the proper functioning of not only humans but all organisms on Earth that have evolved in conditions of alternating day and night. Cities are the primary source of LP, and the ever-increasing global urbanization makes LP one of the fastest-growing threats to our civilization. It is particularly dangerous because public awareness of its existence is exceptionally weak."

https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4672/6/1/11

#ALAN #LightPollution #DarkSkies #Pollution #Environment

"[T]he presence of [artificial light at night] can disrupt the proper functioning of not only humans but all organisms on Earth that have evolved in conditions of alternating day and night. Cities are the primary source of LP, and the ever-increasing global urbanization makes LP one of the fastest-growing threats to our civilization. It is particularly dangerous because public awareness of its existence is exceptionally weak."

https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4672/6/1/11

#ALAN #LightPollution #DarkSkies #Pollution #Environment

In recent trials, the elderly satellite #Sentinel-2A was switched on at night to see how it would perform in the dark – and the results have been strikingly positive, offering encouraging news for the follow-on Copernicus Sentinel-2 Next Generation mission, currently in development: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-2/Sentinel-2_explores_night_vision #ALAN #LightPollution

In recent trials, the elderly satellite #Sentinel-2A was switched on at night to see how it would perform in the dark – and the results have been strikingly positive, offering encouraging news for the follow-on Copernicus Sentinel-2 Next Generation mission, currently in development: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-2/Sentinel-2_explores_night_vision #ALAN #LightPollution

If this result holds up, it’s potentially big: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02481-0

In short, it implies that #LightPollution is decreasing the efficiency with which #plants remove carbon from the atmosphere. It concludes that artificial light at night increases “ #ecosystem respiration” (plants, microbes, and animals releasing carbon dioxide through their activity and growth), but there is no corresponding increase in #photosynthesis.

The result is that plants exposed to ALAN emit more #carbon than they absorb from the #atmosphere. The authors write: “Our findings show that ALAN disrupts the fundamental energetic constraints on ecosystem metabolism, warranting the inclusion of light pollution in global change and carbon–climate feedback assessments.”

#ALAN