An Overlooked Contributor to your Ecological Footprint: Light

Good morning! Today is Tuesday May 19^th, 2026. Earth’s natural form of light is the sun, and it has been ever since the existence of our planet. Throughout history artificial light has revolutionized, evolving from a torch lit on fire to an entire house powered by solar panels. In today’s edition, we will overview the impact that light has on our ecosystems and what can be done to limit this impact. 

When the light bulb was invented in 1879 a plethora of new opportunities was brought into the world. The ability to light up factories, restaurants, and sports venues at night contributed to a more productive and successful economy. Since then, the light bulb and the innovations that followed it have grown exponentially. Unfortunately, with that increase in light innovation has come an increase in environmental damage caused by light. This occurrence can be noted as light pollution.

What is light pollution?

Light pollution can be defined as the excessive or inappropriate use of artificial outdoor light. When viewing light pollution there are three main components. Skyglow, the brightening of the sky over populated areas, light trespass, unwanted light spilling into unintended places, and glare, excessively bright light that impairs vision.

Ecological Impacts

Light pollution can disrupt the natural behaviors of wildlife through altering mating, reproduction, and hunting. In a previous newsletter about migratory birds, we discussed how house lights can disrupt the migratory patterns of birds since they rely on stars to guide their migration. This is a large factor involved in light pollution that can be deadly to hundreds of thousands of birds each migration season. Artificial light attracts insects and moves them away from their natural habitats. This can create an imbalance in the populations of certain insects, and with this imbalance the food chain can be disrupted.

Human Health Impacts

Even though humans benefit the most from artificial light they deal with serious health risks in doing so. First of all, exposure to artificial light at night can suppress the production of natural melatonin in your body. Melatonin is a hormone that is critical for sleep, rejuvenation, and disease prevention. Artificial light also requires energy that is most likely generated from fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels for energy for artificial light directly produces greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. So, in some scenarios light pollution could also be referred to as air pollution.

In 2024, under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency passed through rules that would require automotive manufacturers to significantly reduce “criteria pollutants” emitted from passenger and commercial vehicles from 2027 to 2032. These pollutants noted are ozone, particulate matter, carbon ​monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur ​dioxide and lead. However, just last week on May 14^th the EPA proposed a delay in the enforcement of these regulations. The EPA justified this proposal by explaining how it would save $1.7 billion for automotive manufacturers. The EPA deciding in economic interest over environmental protection…oh boy.

Which of these baby animals is famously disoriented by coastal light pollution, causing them to crawl toward city lights instead of the ocean?

A. Sea turtles

B. Sea otters

C. Harbor Seals

D. Horseshoe crabs

Correct answer at the end of the newsletter!

To mitigate your contribution to light pollution there are a few easy actions that you can take from the comfort of your home. One way is by using shielded light fixtures on the exterior of your home that point directly at the ground as an alternative to using light fixtures that point up into the sky. Another way is to utilize light bulbs that have warmer tones to them since they will scatter less in the atmosphere than bright colors. Finally, install motion-censored lights and timers to limit the amount of time that your outdoor lights are being utilized. Doing any of these actions will instantly reduce your light pollution footprint!

That will wrap up this week’s edition of The Environmental Edit. I hope you are now enlightened on the impact of light pollution! The answer was A! Make sure to share this with friends and family. Also, if you missed any of the past newsletters you can find them all on our website… theenvironmentaledit.com. Have a great rest of your week. Tuesdays for a greener tomorrow!