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DoomsdaysCWWhy <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LightPollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LightPollution</a> is a solvable <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environmental" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#environmental</a> crisisExcessive <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OutdoorLighting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OutdoorLighting</a> is deadly to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/animals" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#animals</a> and takes a toll on <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanHealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HumanHealth</a> and wellbeing, too. But when it comes to large-scale environmental problems, this one may be a relatively easy fix.By Alissa Greenberg Friday, April 1, 2022 "In recent decades, lightbulbs made with <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LEDs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LEDs</a> arrived, a revolution in energy efficiency with seemingly little downside. After all, an <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LED" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LED</a> bulb converts some 90% of the electricity it uses into light, whereas a conventional incandescent bulb only converts about 10%. And LED bulbs are touted as lasting up to 25 times longer."But the physics of LEDs make them fundamentally different from incandescents. While those traditional bulbs put out warm white light made of all colors mixed together, LEDs filter blue-rich light through a specialized phosphor material, producing light that appears white to the human eye but is still more blue-intense than incandescents’ light."But <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BlueLight" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BlueLight</a> is also the most disruptive to our <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/nighttime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#nighttime</a> environment because it mimics daylight, disrupting the hormone production and sleep cycles of both animals and humans. "<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Melatonin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Melatonin</a>, one of those hormones, helps the immune system destroy renegade cells dividing out of control. That can lead to other health issues, including heightened rates of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/cancer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#cancer</a>. And, 'we’re not the only ones who produce melatonin,' says Mario Motta, a cardiologist and trustee of the American Medical Association. Even amoebae produce melatonin'—meaning even amoebae might be vulnerable to light at night. "The impacts of light pollution are evident everywhere from human health to astronomy research, but they come into particular focus in the recent phenomenon of global species <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/dieoffs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dieoffs</a>. Between 100 million and a billion birds die every year due to light pollution, according to Massachusetts IDA chapter president James Lowenthal. New York City recently dealt with a huge die-off, 'with flocks of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MigratoryBirds" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MigratoryBirds</a> slamming into buildings,' says Sarah Bois, an ecologist at the island’s Linda Loring Nature Foundation and a member of Nantucket Lights. 'They’re attracted to light.' A 2015 study at New York’s 9/11 'Tribute in Light'' installation showed an increase from 500 birds within half a kilometer of the light beams before they were turned on to 15,700 just minutes after."The issue is a double whammy for birds because they rely on <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/insects" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#insects</a> for food—and those populations are plummeting, with light pollution contributing significantly to the so-called "<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/InsectApocalypse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#InsectApocalypse</a>.” By some estimates, one third of insects attracted to light sources at night die before morning, either due to exhaustion or because they get eaten. And according to a study in Germany, the number of insects in that country alone that die after being attracted to lights can number 100 billion or more in a single summer. "Some starve to death searching for food that should appear bluer at twilight but is lit up amber under streetlights, says insect conservationist Avalon Owens, a doctoral candidate at Tufts University. Some are thrown off by light just the way we are, because of their <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CircadianRhythms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CircadianRhythms</a>. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Pollinators" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Pollinators</a> whose schedules are altered by artificial light miss the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/flowers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#flowers</a> they’re evolutionarily paired with, if the flowers naturally close and open with the warmth of the sun. And insects that rely on circadian rhythms for their yearly development don’t hibernate in time for winter and freeze to death."On <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Nantucket" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Nantucket</a>, these phenomena are of particular concern because the island is home to a remarkably healthy population of northern long-eared <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/bats" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#bats</a>, which are endangered. Like many birds, the bats rely on insects for food and are easily dazzled by light, putting them in increasing jeopardy. Jack Dubinsky, director of the Maria Mitchell Aquarium on Nantucket, says he’s concerned that adding increasingly lit-up nights to the challenges of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ClimateChange</a>, water quality, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ecosystem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ecosystem</a> collapse could put huge pressure on some already struggling species. 'The more curveballs we throw, the less likely they’ll be able to find their way,' he says.Read more: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/light-pollution-led-nantucket-solutions/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/light-pollution-led-nantucket-solutions/</a><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DarkSkies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DarkSkies</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Extinction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Extinction</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StreetLights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StreetLights</a>

The Bee Guy‘Take a step back from the lawnmower. Keep your green-fingered hands where I can see them. And don’t even think about going for the strimmer…’It’s June. You’ve done the <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/NoMowMay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoMowMay</a> thing. But the little creatures need more from you. Think before you mow!<a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/bees" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#bees</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/nature" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#nature</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/wild" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wild</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/insects" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#insects</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/insectapocalypse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#insectapocalypse</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/garden" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#garden</a> (via @thejournal_ie) <a href="https://jrnl.ie/6084217" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://jrnl.ie/6084217</a>

Adrian Riskin 🇵🇸🍉I lived in UCLA married student housing on sawtelle until around 1969. These were old garden style apartments, now torn down and replaced, and had a ton of lantana hedges.When the lantana was in bloom it was continually surrounded by clouds of one particular kind of moth. I still live in Los Angeles and there's still lantana everywhere but I can't remember the last time I saw one of those moths. From wiki I think they were Lantanophaga pusillidactyla, which is a southern California native. The wiki page doesn't say if it's endangered or not, but it's certainly gone from Los Angeles in historic quantities.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantanophaga_pusillidactyla" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantanophaga_pusillidactyla</a><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LosAngeles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LosAngeles</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LA</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Lantana" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Lantana</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SouthernCalifornia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SouthernCalifornia</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Insects" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Insects</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/InsectApocalypse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#InsectApocalypse</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Extinction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Extinction</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LantanophagaPusillidactyla" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LantanophagaPusillidactyla</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Moths" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Moths</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mothtodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Mothtodon</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/UCLA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#UCLA</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MarriedStudentHousing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MarriedStudentHousing</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Flowers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Flowers</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FloweringPlants" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FloweringPlants</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MassExtinction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MassExtinction</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SawtelleBlvd" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SawtelleBlvd</a>

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