Lord Rees, co-chairman of the All Party Political Group for Dark Skies, explains why it’s so important to stop light pollution and why he’s backing our campaign to Damn the Light.
“People associate the concern about losing dark skies with astronomers, although the case for dark skies isn’t just for the benefit of astronomers,” Lord Rees explains. “I believe the night sky is the most universal part of our environment, as it’s been part of the background for all human beings in all parts of the world throughout history. It’s the one common feature of the environment around the world, and it’s sad if young people can never experience something like all their predecessors.”
We asked for the low down:
Q: You started the All Party Political Group for Dark Skies in January 2020, how did that come about?
“The impetus really came from amateur astronomers such as Jeff Paul and Bob Mizon. These folks have been campaigning for dark skies for decades. Then it received support in Parliament and that of course, brought in interest not just from astronomers, but from those who want to save energy and advocate to not have flood lights going up into the sky over car parks and all other causes of this. It ties into the issue of preserving our environment and the effects of this which is something that has been recognised more recently. It is remarkably interesting how multifaceted the effect of something can be that we as a population haven’t really examined and fully scrutinised. Until a century ago, this was not an issue really and there were no bright lights everywhere.”
Q: Do you think the current legislation is too vague?
“Light pollution does have these damaging effects, some of which aren’t so obvious, like the effects on wildlife. But in terms of the planning regulations, there are some more subtle issues about how different parts of the spectrum, different coloured lights, have different effects. We’re told not to have blue lights on before we want to go to sleep… so the effect on the animals is probably very dependent on what the colour of light is in a similar fashion. The unfortunate thing is that the energy-saving lights are bluer than the old-fashioned lights.”
Q: What do you feel the biggest obstacles are to solving the problem?
“First and foremost, public knowledge and a wider understanding of the issue. I think just realising that it is making a difference to the environment that young people see. I think there’s an awareness the sky is getting brighter and that is affecting the number of stars we can see, but it’s also having these spinoff effects of affecting wildlife, and of course, wasting a lot of energy.
An analogy I like to return to is that I’m not an ornithologist, but I’d be saddened if there were no songbirds in my garden. Similarly, you don’t need to be an astronomer to miss the stars if you can’t see them.”
A special thanks to Lord Rees and Dark Skies for their contributions to our campaign.