Essay On Light Pollution

Light pollution.

This is not only wasting energy, but it seriously affects wildlife and the ecosystem. After hatching on the beach, for instance, baby turtles use the sun going down on the horizon to get back to the sea. But they get confused by the bright lights of seafront hotels and can't find their way. Flying insects also swarm around streetlights and birds sing at midnight, becoming too exhausted to feed and reproduce. Nocturnal animals sleep during the day and are active at night. Lights radically change their nighttime environment by turning night into day. Thousands of deer and animals are killed on the roads by cars in the evenings, because the glare of these cars blind them and are unable to run off the streets before they are knocked down. This causes their numbers to decline or attract unwanted species into human areas.

Light pollution is affecting us, too. When street light creeps in through the curtains, our sleep patterns get disrupted. Lack of sleep can lead to serious illnesses such as depression, heart disease and even cancer.