@article{ArroyoAbascalDegenetal.2024, author = {Arroyo, Hector Linares and Abascal, Angela and Degen, Tobias and Aub{\´e}, Martin and Espey, Brian R. and Gyuk, Geza and H{\"o}lker, Franz and Jechow, Andreas and Kuffer, Monika and S{\´a}nchez de Miguel, Alejandro and Simoneau, Alexandre and Walczak, Ken and Kyba, Christopher C. M.}, title = {Monitoring, trends and impacts of light pollution}, series = {Nature Reviews Earth \& Environment}, journal = {Nature Reviews Earth \& Environment}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, doi = {10.1038/s43017-024-00555-9}, pages = {1 -- 14}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Light pollution has increased globally, with 80\% of the total population now living under light-polluted skies. In this Review, we elucidate the scope and importance of light pollution and discuss techniques to monitor it. In urban areas, light emissions from sources such as street lights lead to a zenith radiance 40 times larger than that of an unpolluted night sky. Non-urban areas account for over 50\% of the total night-time light observed by satellites, with contributions from sources such as transportation networks and resource extraction. Artificial light can disturb the migratory and reproductive behaviours of animals even at the low illuminances from diffuse skyglow. Additionally, lighting (indoor and outdoor) accounts for 20\% of global electricity consumption and 6\% of CO2 emissions, leading to indirect environmental impacts and a financial cost. However, existing monitoring techniques can only perform a limited number of measurements throughout the night and lack spectral and spatial resolution. Therefore, satellites with improved spectral and spatial resolution are needed to enable time series analysis of light pollution trends throughout the night.}, language = {en} } @article{VegaHoelkerZielinskaDabkowskaetal.2024, author = {Vega, Catherine Perez and H{\"o}lker, Franz and Zielinska-Dabkowska, Karolina M and Jechow, Andreas}, title = {Polarised light pollution on river water surfaces caused by artificial light at night from illuminated bridges and surroundings}, series = {Journal of Limnology}, volume = {83}, journal = {Journal of Limnology}, publisher = {PAGEPress}, doi = {10.4081/jlimnol.2024.2173}, pages = {1 -- 13}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Artificial light at night originating from bridge illumination can cause polarised light pollution when it is reflected at water body surfaces. This alters the optical conditions of a river at night and potentially interferes with natural polarisation signals from, for example, moonlight. Therefore, this type of light pollution could detrimentally change the behaviour of organisms sensitive to polarised light, a navigational cue and signal known to be used e.g. by flying water-seeking insects to detect suitable aquatic habitats to reproduce and lay eggs. So far, polarised light pollution from artificial light at night is understudied. Here, we quantify polarised light pollution at the water's surface near seven illuminated bridges crossing the river Spree in Berlin. Our measurements show for the first time, that nocturnal bridge illumination induces polarised light pollution towards potential flying paths of polarotactic aquatic insects. On average, around 9\% of the water surfaces at the investigated bridges were highly polluted by polarised light, with values ranging between 3 and 12 \% for each bridge. Thus, polarised light pollution from artificial light at night is an emergent pollutant for aquatic systems. Future work on this topic should include more comprehensive measurements, further ecological studies on its impacts and the development of sustainable lighting solutions that can contribute to the protection of riverine nightscapes.}, language = {en} } @article{DietenbergerJechowKalinkatetal.2024, author = {Dietenberger, Manuel and Jechow, Andreas and Kalinkat, Gregor and Schroer, Sibylle and Saathoff, Birte and H{\"o}lker, Franz}, title = {Reducing the fatal attraction of nocturnal insects using tailored and shielded road lights}, series = {communications biology}, volume = {7}, journal = {communications biology}, doi = {10.1038/s42003-024-06304-4}, pages = {1 -- 12}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The attraction of insects to artificial light is a global environmental problem with far-reaching implications for ecosystems. Since light pollution is rarely integrated into conservation approaches, effective mitigation strategies towards environmentally friendly lighting that drastically reduce insect attraction are urgently needed. Here, we tested novel luminaires in two experiments (i) at a controlled experimental field site and (ii) on streets within three municipalities. The luminaires are individually tailored to only emit light onto the target area and to reduce spill light. In addition, a customized shielding renders the light source nearly invisible beyond the lit area. We show that these novel luminaires significantly reduce the attraction effect on flying insects compared to different conventional luminaires with the same illuminance on the ground. This underlines the huge potential of spatially optimized lighting to help to bend the curve of global insect decline without compromising human safety aspects. A customized light distribution should therefore be part of sustainable future lighting concepts, most relevant in the vicinity of protected areas.}, language = {en} }