NIGHT SKY AND DARK ENVIRONMENTS: BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR ARTIFICIAL LIGHT AT NIGHT ON BLM-MANAGED LANDS TECHNICAL NOTE 457 12 3. Light Pollution: Exposure Mechanisms and Effects 3 The IDA is a leading global nonprofit organization with the mission “to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting” (IDA 2018a). Natural darkness once made it unsafe or impractical to continue activities into the night. With electricity, artificial light at night is widely used for a variety of purposes (Ekirch 2005). Providing light into the dark hours does benefit society, yet there is also a cost of light pollution with inefficient exterior light design. This section defines artificial light and language to describe light. The discussion then turns to light pollution, sources of light pollution, and ways it can affect human, animal, and plant ecology and wellbeing. Through awareness raised by organizations such as the International DarkSky Association (IDA)3, the National Park Service, university programs, and private industry, it is known that light pollution from artificial light at night affects humans, animals, and plants in a variety of ways. Electrical substation on BLM-managed lands in Eldorado Valley in Nevada. Skyglow in the background is from the city of Las Vegas.
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