Light pollution is increasing in Poland. An alarming report

The Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a group of scientists associated with the organization Light Pollution Think Tank were published a report Light pollution in Poland shows that there is no longer a normal night sky over our country. Scientists point out that Light pollution ‘common in Poland and getting worse’.

Data published by Polish scientists shows this In 2022 “there was no place in Poland that could be considered free of light pollution”.

From the post we can learn that it is due to light pollution”In 2022, the normal night sky over Poland no longer exists at allAs the lead editor of the report, Dr. Andrzej Kotarba of the Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, explained, quoted in the press release, in major cities such as Warsaw, Krakow and Poznań in 2022, “the real night has not come.”

As the authors of the report, “Light Pollution in Poland,” write, In 2022, the light emitted into the sky was the highest in the history of measurements: 6 percent more than in the decade 2012-2021. Scientists also mention this At night, the average sky was 147 percent. Brighter than the natural sky. In turn, the skies in the cities were “several thousand times brighter.”

The report, its authors write, is the first publication of its kind in Poland. Its goal is to diagnose the degree of light pollution in our country.

According to Polish scientists Large cities emit the most light. Only five of them – Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Gdańsk I Poznań – It represents 10 percent of the total light emitted by Poland. The brightest urban site in our country turned out to be Warsaw’s Devilad Square. However, greenhouses emit the most light. According to the report, some of them glowed several times brighter than the square. Parades.

The brightest provinces were Silesia, Lesser Poland and Lower Silesia. The darkest provinces were Podlaskie, Lublin and Warmian-Masuria.

Darkest, that is The sky was closest to nature above Pishzadi Mountains: It was 6-8 percent. Brighter than normal. The darkest skies occurred over the municipalities of Lotowiska, Cessna and Czarna.

When the brightness does not exceed 1%, we are dealing with a normal sky. The report shows that such skies no longer exist in Poland. The Milky Way becomes invisible when its brightness exceeds about 400 percent. These skies are more than 9.2 percent clear. The area of ​​Poland, and it is inhabited by 58 percent of the country’s population.

Scientists add that in a large part of this region the sky is permanently brighter than what is called nautical twilight, that is, the period of sunset. sunWhen the center of its disk is 6 degrees below the horizon:

Sky brightness increased by at least 1,700 percent. It does not allow the human eye to adapt to night vision. According to scientists, this situation concerns every fifth Polish woman and every fifth Pole – Most residents of major cities, including Warsaw, Krakow, Poznań, Lodz, Lublin and Gdańsk.

The authors of the publication themselves admit this In Polish legislation, excess light emission is not considered pollution, unlike smog or noise for example. They point out that “protection of the natural night was informal and resulted from grassroots activities.” According to scientists, too much light in the environment may have a negative impact on the lives of plants, animals and humans:

“Exposure to light at night disrupts our internal biological clock, leading to sleep and metabolic disorders, which are among the most common lifestyle diseases,” explains Dr. Happ, one of the report’s authors. Thomas Szczor of Krakow University of Technology.

And in the conclusions of his report The authors propose to include light in the definition of emissions, set standards for it, and develop and implement a sustainable national lighting policyThis enables rationalization of the use of public and private lighting facilities.