Most people are familiar with the pollution of our air , water and soil . But there ’ s another , less obvious kind that humanity is pumping into nature : light pollution . Our cities are growing and as they do , they ’ re wiping the stars from the night sky , leaving in their place a depthless orange haze hanging just above the rooftops .
A recent study in Science Advances magazine estimates that fully onethird of humankind can no longer see the Milky Way , that effervescent backdrop to the stars . Just a few decades ago , a person anywhere in the world could look up and marvel at the four thousand stars visible to the naked eye . Today the average city dweller sees less than a hundred .
The stars have floated up there for billions upon billions of years — and it only took us about 100 years to snuff them out .
The countless lights that line our streets don ’ t just illuminate the ground ; they needlessly beam light in every direction . On overcast nights , cities announce themselves a hundred miles away as a dull glow on the horizon . Some estimates say that 40 % of a typical city ’ s electric usage is sucked up by this 24-hour grid , often lighting areas that are deserted for hours on end . This wasted energy costs us around $ 3.5 billion per year , but this is a topic for another night .
Light pollution doesn ’ t just take a toll on our wallets , it harms the natural world as well . Birds that use the moon and stars to navigate during migrations can get pulled astray by the alluring glow of a city below . Many of them crash against illuminated skyscrapers and fall to their death .
In coastal areas like Florida , newborn turtles are disoriented by the brightly lit beachfront properties , scuttling away from the safety of the ocean to certain death . Even when it isn ’ t outright fatal , artificial light can disrupt the delicate cycles of nocturnal animals and even hamper the sleeping patterns of humans .
Thankfully , a global network of dedicated stargazers , professional and amateur alike , are working to save our skies . To do that , they ’ re establishing protected zones around the world known as “ dark sky preserves .”
Much like national parks enforce borders and regulations to protect life on the ground , a dark sky preserve sets rules and regulations as to lighting in a certain area to conserve the darkness of the nighttime sky . In other words , they flick the lights off to ensure the stars stay on .
The first Canadian dark sky preserve received its designation as recently as 1999 . The Torrance Barrens Conservation Reserve is a 1990-hectare parcel of land in the Muskoka region about 200 km north of Toronto . Regulations restrict the amount and quality of manmade lighting in a five- to eight-km radius .
The area is , naturally , a great spot for looking up : The land is broad and flat , with thin stony soil that has kept the trees small and stunted , offering a largely unobstructed view from horizon to horizon . The Torrance Barrens preserve was the brainchild of Peter Goering , a retired architect from Toronto and an avid stargazer .
PHOTOS AT LEFT AND ABOVE : JOHN ENTWISTLE . six star magazine 21