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Abstract

For three billion years, life has adapted to the shifting cycles of light. Every living being carries internal clocks that follow the rhythms of day and night, the seasons, and the phases of the moon – a rhythm that has shaped life since time immemorial.

We humans are diurnal creatures, naturally awake during the day, and as dusk falls, we begin to prepare for rest. Meanwhile, other animals and plants awaken as the sun sinks below the horizon. Dragonflies dance in the twilight, moths pollinate the flowers of the night, bats emerge to hunt, and in the oceans, plankton rise toward the surface. Regardless of their ecological niche, all life has evolved in a world where day follows night, where light and darkness are in constant dialogue.

Until now, that is – now that we humans illuminate the night as if it were day, disrupting the inner clocks of all living things.

Since LED lights became widespread, light pollution has increased by about ten percent each year. Today, barely one-fifth of us can see the Milky Way on an ordinary night. A single streetlamp emits light a hundred times stronger than the glow of a full moon – so it’s no wonder ecosystems are affected.

Nocturnal animals vanish, plants bloom too early, migrating species lose their way, and insects – irresistibly drawn to light – get stuck, unable to pollinate or reproduce. Light pollution is part of the explanation behind the ongoing mass extinction of species. And we humans are affected too.

Too much light at night has been shown to harm our immune systems, leaving us in a state of constant low-level jetlag.