In the United States, Tucson, Arizona, is often held up as a leader in light pollution mitigation. The city adopted one of the nation\u2019s earliest comprehensive lighting codes in 2012, largely in response to concerns raised by three nearby research observatories: Kitt Peak, the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, and the Mount Graham International Observatory. Tucson\u2019s lighting regulations, which govern brightness, color, and fixture direction, are intended to \u201cminimize obtrusive and excessive outdoor lighting, safeguard the night sky for astronomical activities, and reduce energy waste, all while ensuring safety, security, and the enjoyment of nighttime activities,\u201d according to the city\u2019s official website.<\/p>\n
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Palo Alto late last year became the most recent American city to pass a sweeping set of ordinances requiring residences and businesses to turn off non-essential lighting after 11 p.m. Like Tucson\u2019s rules, Palo Alto\u2019s new law mandates replacing bright floodlights with dimmer bulbs and swapping unshielded fixtures with ones that direct light downward. The effort was led by Greer Stone, a city councilman and former mayor. Despite the Bay Area\u2019s relentless glow, Stone sees Palo Alto as an ideal testing ground for regional change. \u201cOne of the things I\u2019ve always loved most about Palo Alto is that we are a fairly dense urban environment that has found a way to incorporate the natural environment very organically into the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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The ordinance could yield immediate benefits, according to Stone. \u201cBetter sleep quality, less annoyance, and higher quality of life in neighborhoods,\u201d he said. Ecological gains matter, too. \u201cWe can help our local critters access our riparian corridors without excess light pouring in there.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the United States, Tucson, Arizona, is often held up as a leader in light pollution mitigation. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[77],"tags":[54087,18,19,17,133,28984],"class_list":["post-316215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-climate-solutions","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-science-nature"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116000430958661003","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}