It is only since recent years that the importance of the effects
of outdoor lighting on the night-time environment and on the
physical and mental health of humans is recognized on a wider
scale. The related issue of light pollution is a particularly
complex one, with potential conflicts of interest between the
utilities, environmentalists, astronomers, the lighting industry
and various government departments. Energy politics are always a
sensitive issue, and light pollution is no exception to this
rule.
The effects of light pollution on flora, fauna -including humans
and their widely varying night-time activities- are often subtle
and need extensive field studies to be quantified in a sensible
manner.
The present conference, initiated by Commission 50 of the
International Astronomical Union, is an attempt to bring together
the astronomical community, the lighting industry, end-users, the
utilities, and public authorities for a discussion and an exchange
of ideas and information that will create goodwill among these
groups and will thus contribute to making the global efforts to
reduce pollution more efficient and effective.
Radio frequency pollution was also discussed in the context of
radio astronomy and its efforts to create radio-quiet zones in
collaboration with the government authorities that allocate
frequency bands to the various users -mainly the telecommunications
industry- and to protect the major planned and present radio
observatories of the world.
The 3-day conference was attended by more than 130 representatives
from 12 countries of all the above-mentioned groups, and a wide
range of topics was discussed.
Some of the highlights were:
The presentation of the 1st world atlas of artificial night sky
brightness (Cinzano et al.); the article by the International
Darksky Association on their world-wide efforts to curb light
pollution (Alvarez del Castillo et al.); the laws controlling light
pollution implemented in Spain (Diaz et al.) and Chile (Sanhueza et
al.), an overview of the work on radio frequency protection of
sites (Cohen et al.) and the excellent introduction to the topic
from the Chilean point of view (Daud).
Related topics in the book are light pollution education,
aircraft contrails, space advertising (with an added document
provided by the relevant UN commission), and an experiment on
involving the population of an entire country in measuring sky
brightness, by using the internet and the media.
The text is aimed at professionals from a wide range of
disciplines related to lighting and its effects on the night-time
environment in the broadest sense of the word. Lay persons
interested in this emerging multi-disciplinary field can also find
much of interest in this book.
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