Light pollution is getting worse, but there is a movement to make our skies dark again

Editor’s Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. “I saw a sky from my location in the Bronx,” said Joe Rao, a meteorologist and amateur astronomer who was living in New York City on the night of the blackout, “which I had never seen before and have never seen again.” Barring a freak power outage, the light emanating from towns and cities due to unnatural light sources is so bright that it washes out the stars. “We’re all ultimately dependent on this stuff for our very existence.” A long-exposure photograph showing star trails in the night sky over Arches National Park, Utah, a Dark Sky reserve. Soon, Crestone became one of a growing number of towns around the world officially recognized as a Dark Sky community by DarkSky International, an organization that promotes the battle against light pollution. In 2022, DarkSky, in collaboration with the Czech Republic, developed a European policy brief on reducing light pollution, recommending that “all light should have a clear purpose,” that it “should be directed only to where needed,” and that it “should be no brighter than necessary.” The brief suggests using current EU legislative frameworks — on biodiversity, climate change, and energy efficiency — to push for light pollution mitigation measures.