
Night Lights Drive Pollinators Away from Plants - xoa
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/confirmed-night-lights-drive-pollinators-away-from-plants/535983/?single_page=true
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xoa
Reposting this in the context of yesterday's HN discussion
"[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15502074"](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15502074")
[1], because reading through it I saw a lot of discussion about pesticides but
surprisingly nothing at all regarding nighttime light pollution. This also
seems like an area where there is more easy direct action potential for
technologists. Both individually and in terms of community ordinances we
should push to better take advantage of advances in LEDs and sensors to try to
reduce color temperature at light and try to better ensure that lighting
exists only when and where humans actually directly need it at the time,
rather then the current dumblight defaults of "always on, lots of spread, and
always at the same temperature".

This really seems like an area where at least some form of win-win is
possible, because we generally don't really need lighting on when literally
nobody is around, it's just been that way by default because there was no
better way to ensure it _would_ be on _if_ somebody came around. Fixed color
temperatures have been a matter of necessity given the technology available.
So there should be a lot of room to reduce wasted light (and in turn energy)
and benefit pollinators. Personally this provided the impetus to get my
camera, door sensors, and other presence detectors all linked up with my
lighting at last so that outdoor lighting is by default off at night except
when directly needed. I'd support a national push to develop more directed,
warmer, and smarter street lighting and the like as well.

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1:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15502074](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15502074)

