Myth vs Reality: Effects of City Lights

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with the NASA Earth Observatory.

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA

except:

·       Daytime photo of lightning in Arizona courtesy of Wikipedia user ed ouimette

·       Photo of oil wells and flare in North Dakota courtesy of Tim Evanson

·       Photo of fracking equipment in North Dakota courtesy of Joshua Doubek

·       Photo of old and new San Francisco – Oakland Bay bridges courtesy of Frank Schulenburg

·       Sea creature illustration copyright The National Library of Israel, Shapell Family Digitization Project _and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Geography – Historic Cities Research Project

 

Music courtesy of Associated Production Music

Written by Tracy Vogel

Designed by Marc Lussier

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Text, Myth vs. Reality 

 

Myth. Abundant nighttime lighting has no negative effects on human health and nature. 

 

Reality. Bright city lights can disrupt the natural rhythms and processes of animals, insects, plants, and even people. Too much light at night can cause animal deaths and lead to illnesses in humans.