A frightening prediction: scientists estimate that in 20 years all stars will “disappear”

The invention of the light bulb 144 years ago was one of the most transformative milestones in history. This new form of artificial light illuminated dark streets, houses and activated nightlife. Today this brilliance continues to increase, but at what cost?

According to scientists, the use of LED lights and other forms of lighting light up the night sky in an impressive way. Public lighting, advertising or mass event centers blind our vision of the stars.

With the naked eye, a person should be able to clearly distinguish the Milky Way in the night sky, and even the Magellanic Clouds, our own satellite galaxies. But today, a third of the population cannot.

light pollution according to the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) it’s a “disturbance of the natural darkness of the night caused by wasted, unnecessary or inadequate light, generated by outdoor lighting, which generates impacts on the health and life of living beings”.

It is a problem that affects the world population. As light travels in all directions and at 300,000 kilometers per second, light pollution that comes from one place can alter landscapes or distant places and don’t even have lighting systems.

Light pollution is increasing by around 2% per year across the planet, hence the concern over this issue has led the scientific world to call for it to be treated in the same way as other types of pollution, not only because of its impacts on astronomical observation, but also on our health and its effects on biodiversity.

At the current rate, it is estimated that most of the major constellations will be undecipherable in 20 years. In Chile, only 1% of the population lives in areas with dark skies , and more than 30% of Chileans live in places where artificial light does not allow the stars to be seen with characteristics more typical of twilight than of the darkness of night.

There Chilean bright stallion currently in force, its environmental objective is to protect the quality of the sky for the development of astronomy and its application is limited to the regions of Antofagasta, Atacama and Coquimbo. But in recent years, it has been revealed that light pollution has increased at very rapid and worrying levels, and that this is not only impacting the observation of the sky, but also biodiversity and with effects on our health.

If the light pollution remains as it is, the cultural and scientific loss will be intense, explains research by physicist Christopher Kyba of the German Center for Geosciences. According to his studyextreme lighting causes the night sky to brighten by about 10% per year, an increase that threatens to obliterate the vision of all stars , except for the brightest, in one generation. A child born in a place where today 250 stars can be seen at night will only be able to see about 100 by the age of 18.

“A few generations ago, people would have been regularly confronted with this brilliant vision of the cosmos, but what was once universal is now extremely rare. Only the richest people in the world, and some of the poorest, continue to experience it. For everyone else, it’s more or less gone,” Kyba told the Observer.

However, modest lighting changes could bring significant improvements to the night sky, physicist says . Measures such as exterior lights being masked and shining downwards, having a limit on their brightness and having red and orange components and not just blue and white could have “a huge impact”.

That is why in 2021 the Draft MMA Lightweight Standard was released, which aims to extend to all regions the care of the firmament against light pollution, seeking to protect the astronomical skies, biodiversity and human health.

“What we are looking for is to extend the current standard to all of Chile, since today it only considers three regions, in addition we are adding objectives that did not exist before, such as the protection of biodiversity , the care of people’s health, which adds to greater protection of the sky for astronomical observation,” former Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt said at the time.

We must act quickly, because in addition to the economic and cultural effect, light pollution has an impact on biodiversity, mainly linked to the type of habitat in which the species live and their behavior.

Excess light at night can cause various disorders in the routine of animals such as their mode of reproduction, feeding or orientation. Additionally, nocturnal species adapted to night vision have their visual ability diminished with excess light, which creates greater dangers for these species.

According south slope 30% of mammals and more than 60% of invertebrates are partially or mostly nocturnal, so artificial light significantly alters the natural cycles of a large number of species.

Excess light also causes movements in wildlife, such as bats fleeing light and having to change habitat. While other insects are attracted to light and end up burned, leading to a deterioration in biodiversity.

But on top of that, not only flora and fauna are affected, but human beings also depend on light for our cycles. Various studies have documented that excess light affects our biological clock due to imbalances in the sleep hormone , melatonin which is produced only in conditions of absolute darkness. The possible symptoms due to the abuse of too bright lights or so many hours under them are generally: restless sleep, lack of rest, insomnia, fatigue, nervousness, stress problems, diabetes and obesity.

Professor Robert Fosbury, from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London (UCL), told the Guardian that the bluish emissions from LEDs are almost completely devoid of red or near-infrared light, which has serious implications.

“When reddish light shines on our bodies, it stimulates mechanisms, including those that break down high blood sugar levels or increase melatonin production. Since the introduction of fluorescent lighting and then LEDs, this part of the spectrum has been removed from artificial light and I think it plays a role in the waves of obesity and the rise in diabetes that we see today. Fosbury told the Guardian.

On the other hand, it has been found that drivers drive more on lit sections, which implies an increase in the risk factor due to speed. Other studies suggest that exposure to light sources at night, such as a computer, cell phone, or television, alters the light-dark cycle, causing imbalances that would lead to depression.

On light pollution, so far, there is low social awareness. As Professor Oscar Corcho, from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, said: “The negative consequences of light pollution are as little known to the population as those of smoking in the 1980s” . This is why measures such as those mentioned above can bring about significant changes to the whole ecosystem.