Light Pollution: Kills what nourishes

- Sign-in-Harsh Meswania

- Artificial light has now become an integral part of our lives. This excess of energy has created a problem of light pollution in the last few decades

While living in the Dark Ages, Ma Na was locked out of easily accessible sources of light. Centuries of tireless efforts were made to harness energy. The friction of the trees in the forest may have created firewood and from this man may have obtained fire. By gradually observing the friction of trees or the spontaneous friction of stones, the primitive man must have learned to control it. The fire must have changed his chaotic life. Man who ate raw food learned to heal by cooking. The lamp may have been lit out of the need to dispel the darkness in the cave. A gust of wind would blow the lamp over and over again, so man invented a lantern to protect the lamp.

Centuries have changed. A new generation of primitive people came. The methods of obtaining ajwaas also changed. There was immense variety in lamps. Many varieties of lanterns fell. Things came along, including torches, and then one day the electric bulb was invented that could not be extinguished by factors like air. At that time mankind had taken another step of evolution. It took millions of years to light the fire. It took thousands of years to make the lamp. Centuries had passed since the invention of the lantern, but within a century or so of the invention of the light bulb, man had discovered new sources of energy.

The primordial man seemed to shake the darkness away a little. Descendants of Adimanav fighting to eliminate the kingdom of darkness seem to have retaliated against the darkness. Today's man has challenged the kingdom of darkness. Lights wherever you look... lights wherever you look... a kingdom of light all around from the time you open your eyelids in the morning to the time you close your eyes at night. Starting from the light of mobile phones, computers, TVs are dominated by energy everywhere and due to this, a new challenge has been created in front of the world. This is called light pollution.

There are about 10 thousand cities in the world. All of them are lit at night. Lamps keep burning all around with the man's determination that no place should be dark in the absence of Suryanarayan. Half a century or a century ago, the main part of the city, important government buildings, hospitals, places of worship had lights on all night. Now from the small house to society, the public streets of cities and villages are shining with lights. From factories to offices, everything is bustling like day even at night. If the window of the house is open in the middle of the night, the light of the streetlight shines inside. Almost every house has a light bulb burning in a corner. Due to all this artificial light has become an integral part of our life. An excess of such daylight has created a problem of light pollution in the last few decades.

Our definition of pollution is largely limited to water-air-land pollution. Light pollution is rarely discussed. Although this problem caused by excess energy is not considered dangerous now, scientists keep warning that it may have serious consequences in the future. A report on global light pollution was published in Science Advances. Accordingly, 80 percent of the world's population lives under the influence of this new type of pollution. This is pollution that we don't even know is pollution!

Britain's Natural Environment Research Council in a report described the side effects of energy excess on ecosystems. Due to the continuous glare of light, the ecosystem of organisms is disturbed. The day-night system placed in their bodies by nature is seriously affected. Some organisms have trouble mistaking night for day due to excessive light. Blurred vision of some organisms was also reported. Scientists conducted experiments on dogs and cats living in the middle of light in cities and dogs and cats living in slightly less light in the countryside, in which the startling findings came out that these organisms of the same age had different vision abilities. What animals raised in cities could not see in the dark, dogs and cats living in the hinterland could see.

Similarly, insects and the birds that prey on them were studied. The eyes of insects and birds of prey were tested with twenty types of light. It was found that special types of lighting made insects more visible. When some light made it difficult to see. Similarly, birds that are normally nocturnal could not see in some lights. Many birds were so 'addicted' to the light that they did not try to see in the dark at night even though nature had given them the power!

From this research, scientists warned that excess energy can cause side effects in human eyes. In the conclusion it was said that light falls in the eyes of man day and night. During sleep, except for seven-eight hours, there is a kingdom of energy around the eyes. Also, the light from computers, laptops, TVs, smartphones, smartwatches etc. keeps hitting the eyes differently. It weakens the eyes year by year. One report made an interesting comparison. In the 19th century, the average man's eyes started to fade around the age of 58-60. Instead, in the second half of the 20th century, it became an average of 52 years. In the 21st century, it starts to fade in 45-50 years.

The side effects of light pollution cannot be directly measured at present. There are still very few researches about it. However, important findings suggest that excess energy intake may exacerbate insomnia. Like other organisms, nature has created a biological cycle of light and dark in the human body. Average sleep is reduced due to insomnia. In 1940 the average sleep of people was eight hours, in 70-80 years the average sleep has decreased by 20%. In the 21st century, the average sleep has increased to 6.7 hours. Experts call it a danger signal. There are many reasons behind mental stress, one of them is light pollution. As the body is constantly exposed to artificial light, the amount of hormones that increase mental stress increases in the body. These hormones challenge mental stability and endurance. Too much light impairs memory.

According to the claim of the International Agency for Cancer Research, the risk of breast cancer increases as there is constant vigil around women even at night. Not all women are at risk, but a study of women working night shifts found that exposure to constant light increased their chances of developing colorectal cancer. Women working in the night shift are exposed to energy at night as well as during the day. As a result many changes occur in the body in the long run.

Men are at increased risk of heart disease due to light pollution. A study conducted in Britain found that men who did not sleep more than eight hours in a 24-hour period were more likely to have heart disease and high blood pressure. However, if this happens continuously for one and a half to two decades, the risk increases.

Mankind has not yet become serious about the issue of energy pollution. At present, man is looking for new energy options to push the darkness far away from the earth, but researchers believe that in half a century, it will not be surprising if light pollution becomes a serious problem, like water-land-air pollution.

The sky faded

Man has been observing the sky for centuries. Man has recorded the details of why the star rises in which direction, when it sets. Stargazing would have been an important recreational activity for ancient man when there were no other devices. It would have boosted his imagination. Many assumptions must have been made by seeing the falling star. Beliefs must have been made. Good or bad must have been thought. Astronomical activity declined in the 20th century. Many means of entertainment were invented, developed. Industrial revolution happened, man got busy learning new things. The rich man then had no more daily time for sky-gazing. Akashdarshan went on in oblivion. If you want to see the sky clearly, now you have to go to the desert or the sea.

In addition to time, the changed lifestyle etc. factors became an obstacle for sky darshan, apart from which we did not even know that light pollution became a big obstacle. To see the energetic stars in the sky, man has to reduce the energy around him, but that is no longer possible. Akashdarshan train has left.

The Dark-Sky International Association of America works to reduce energy pollution. According to his report, since 23 percent of the sky in the world has come under energy pollution, it is not possible to see the sky from those places. In this 23 percent area, a layer of light emanating from the ground has formed. Even if there is a desire to see the twinkling stars in the sky, the eye cannot go beyond the border of that light. Very little starlight reaches us from the depths of the distant sky, and our vision of the sky becomes dim as our eyes get stuck in the haze we have created.