Light pollution is becoming an increasingly pressing global problem, disrupting not only our ability to admire the stars, but also negatively affecting human health and the environment. Although invisible at first glance, excess artificial lighting at night has a real impact on our lives and the ecosystem.
Remember Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night?" He wouldn't be able to paint it today. The same is true of the currently popular series "The Three Body Problem." In the first episode, "the universe winks," at the characters. On the screen we see stars appearing and disappearing over London. In reality, however, those looking at the sky would see nothing, even if the sky was not covered by clouds at the moment.
Comparison of 2-year average light emissions in Europe 2014-2021 - Two-year average light emissions in EEA38 over the last eight years (2014/15: top left panel, 2016/2017: top right panel, 2018/19: bottom left panel, 2020/21: bottom right panel).
ETC Report HE 2022/8: Review and assessment of available information on light pollution in Europe; Swiss TPH.
What is Light Pollution?
For most of human history, we used candles to light our way during sunset and sunrise, which marked the dips and rises of our activity levels. However, the advent of electric outdoor lighting has changed these activity patterns. While this has brought many benefits, it also means that for most people the night sky is no longer dark and they can't see the Milky Way[1].
Light pollution is the excessive emission of anthropogenic artificial light at night, disrupting natural environmental conditions, or to put it a bit more simply, too much artificial light in a man-made environment. Although the problem is often associated with outdoor lighting, it also applies to excessive illumination of indoor spaces, as well as light emitted by our electrical devices - such as smartphones. In this article, we will only consider light pollution in urban spaces.
Scale of the Problem
Studies show that light pollution is a global problem, affecting all electrified places on Earth. The Milky Way cannot be seen by 80 percent of the US population[2]. Light pollution is not only a problem related to humanity's negative legacy or impaired astronomical observations. It's also a health issue - excessive illumination of the night sky can be one of the causes of sleep problems in some people and negatively affect wildlife and their environment. In addition, it is simply associated with financial losses. Especially looking from the perspective of municipalities, counties or one's own household - electricity bills could be lower if more efficient lighting systems were used.
Maps showing truly dark spaces in the EU - Comparison of 2014-2015 skies, left (71.3%), with 2020-2021 (66.1%). They show the approximate loss of 5% of true dark spaces in Europe in six years. The image was created from remote sensing images taken by the VIIRS satellite. The black color denotes "truly dark" spaces, which in this image suggest a land area of Europe with light emissions less than or equal to 0.5 nW/cm2/sr (nanowatts per square centimeter per steradian) of radiation. The blue color indicates the area of Europe with light emissions greater than 0.5 nW/cm2/sr. Exclusion of the northern region highlighted in white due to the interfering effect of aurora lights (Widmer et al., 2022). Source: European Topic Center for Human Health and the Environment on behalf of the EEA, 2022.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, Light pollution - Mitigation measures for environmental protection, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023,
Light Pollution in Poland
The LPTT report is an important source of information and recommendations for measures to protect the natural night environment in Poland. It shows that the phenomenon has become widespread and in our country, the problem is growing, and in our country there is surprisingly little talk about it, especially in the industry community. In 2022 there was a record amount of emitted light, 6% more than in the previous decade.The brightness of the night sky was on average 147% higher than naturally, and in cities it was even several thousand times brighter.
Night sky brightness classes over Poland in 2022. - Light Pollution Think Tank
Light Pollution in Poland. Report 2023; Prepared by the LPTT team.
This pollution puts strong pressure on human health and the environment. In 2022, a night polluted by light was present in most localities, with 20% of Polish women and men finding the sky too bright for them to feel that a real night had come. A threat was also found for national park areas, especially those adjacent to urban areas.
Action for a better future
The solution is not to remove lighting altogether, but to use it consciously and responsibly. Outdoor lighting should be used with caution, taking into account the need for dark skies. Light fixtures that effectively reduce light pollution are those that emit light only in the necessary directions. This regulation is evident in the provision of §293 of the Decree of the Minister of Infrastructure on the Technical Conditions to be met by buildings and their location[3].
If the provision is violated, and your apartment is made too bright by area lighting, it is worth filing a notice with the District Building Inspectorate. If you intervene in the violation of the construction law, the authority will take ex officio inspection actions, followed by administrative proceedings or other actions prescribed by law (such as imposing a fine). It is worth mentioning that the application can be submitted via ePUAP[4].
Managing light pollution
By including light in the definition of emissions and assigning emission standards to it in accordance with the current state of scientific knowledge on the negative effects of light pollution, we can talk about light emission management. LEED and BREEAM certifications promote such solutions that not only reduce light emissions, but also contribute to energy savings.
The brightness of the night sky over Poland in 2022 - Light Pollution Think Tank
Light Pollution in Poland. Report 2023; Compiled by LPTT Team
Although LED lamps bring energy savings, their overuse can increase light pollution. Despite the ability to choose the color of the light, most often they emit wavelengths of blue light, which have a negative impact on the environment and human and animal health. According to scientists, the shift toward white and blue light disrupts the natural nocturnal cycles - the diurnal rhythm of day and night of living organisms, including humans, which has a negative impact on the health of species and whole organisms. The three main negative effects of using such lighting on a massive scale are the suppression of melatonin release, the phototactic response of insects and bats, and, mentioned above, the visibility of stars in the night sky[5].
It is necessary to develop and implement a national sustainable lighting policy that would rationalize the use of public and private lighting installations. The goal is to reduce light pollution in affected municipalities and preserve the natural nighttime environment where it is still relatively intact.
Light pollution and the law
In the Polish legal system, light pollution is not interpreted as a threat. The laws in effect in 2022 did not reflect the problem of excessive lighting, and those that existed were limited only to recommendations that were not mandatory. Protection of the natural night was based mainly on social, informal actions. The consequences of the omission of light from the Environmental Law are significant. The lack of established methods of measurement and the absence of standards for light emissions makes effective monitoring of artificial light levels difficult. Without an established "emission standard," it is impossible to determine whether it is exceeded, which means that any emission of artificial light, regardless of its intensity, is not considered pollution under the law.
The lack of light pollution monitoring by state departments in 2022 meant that observations of excess light were mainly conducted by universities, scientific institutions and NGOs.
The specific definition of electromagnetic fields in the Environmental Protection Law further hinders the fight against light pollution in urban planning. According to this law (Article 72(1)(6)), when establishing a municipality's general plan and local spatial development plans, natural balance and rational management of environmental resources must be ensured. However, reference to electromagnetic fields does not require the inclusion of light emissions in the documents.
Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament requires member states to conduct environmental impact assessments of planned investments. It indicates that the assessment should take into account the type and amount of expected pollution, including light, resulting from the operation of the proposed project. This provision was introduced into European Union law in 1985 through Council Directive 85/337/EEC and remained unchanged in subsequent legislative amendments. In Poland, it was implemented through the Act of October 3, 2008 on the provision of information on the environment, its protection and environmental impact assessments.
Another option for regulation is to use the provisions of the Minister of Infrastructure on the technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location (Journal of Laws 2022, item 1225). This legal act includes a provision regulating the maximum permissible intensity of lighting on the facades of buildings, including residential buildings. According to this provision, lighting devices, including advertisements, placed on the exterior of a building or in its surroundings, must not cause a nuisance to its users, pedestrians and drivers.If light is directed to the facade of a building containing windows, the intensity of illumination on this facade must not exceed 5 lux for white light and 3 lux for colored light or light of varying intensity, flashing or pulsating light (Section 293(6)).
Light pollution, although unnoticeable at first glance, is a real threat to our environment. Awareness of this problem and appropriate action can help protect the dark skies and preserve the balance of our ecosystem.
[1] European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, Light pollution - Mitigation measures for environmental protection, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/906521
[2] https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/light-pollution-night-sky-worsening.htm
[3] Lighting devices, including advertisements, placed on the exterior of a building or in its surroundings must not cause a nuisance to its users or to passersby and drivers. If the light is directed at a building facade containing windows, the illumination intensity at that facade must not exceed 5 lux for white light and 3 lux for colored light or light of varying intensity, flashing light, possibly pulsating light
[4] http://www.pinb.pol.pl/t/gov.pl/epuap_pomoc.pdf
[5] https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/ESA_astronauts_help_map_Europe_s_light_pollution_from_space
