Humans Impact on the Environment : The Night Sky

Sometimes it is the slightly-off weird things that catch both the imagination and the mind.

After I wrote the previous blog on snow, and perhaps a few ways we could make life easier during inclement weather through invention or architecture I had to let my greyhound out for her night-time duties.

Sometimes you can look at things for years and not really see them. I looked outside and saw that it was not particularly dark outside.

Yes, I understand that I live in an area where there is a lot of light pollution.

Yes, I understand that light reflects better off of snow than the normal environment.

But sometimes to actually see a night with a snow-covered ground and grey snow-bearing clouds in the sky and say to yourself ‘During an overcast day it has been darker than it is right now outside at 2:30AM.’ Is different than just understanding that yes, it might be light outside at night under some specific circumstances.

Ask questions when you see things.

What kind of effect on nocturnal animals might a brighter than some days sky have – especially when that night-time condition might be lasting in duration (days to weeks?)?

What kind of effect on diurnal animals might a brighter than some days sky have – would they know when it is time to go to sleep?

You might say that these questions are meaningless – and that animals should know what time it is – and know how and when to take care of their daily (or nightly) activities.

But I would challenge that idea. I remember seeing a show on American tourists in Nordic countries during the summer when there is almost no night-time. And people just stay up – for hours and hours and possibly days – until finally the body says ‘Look man, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.” And these Americans suffer extreme problems with this kind of exhaustion (and that really sucks because they are on vacation).

If it can happen to humans, what about animals?

Anyway, just an idle thought. Oh, and a picture to go along with it. Taken with my FujiFilm E550, on night-time mode (3 second exposure). [PLEASE NOTE: No lighting was used in this picture, just snow-clouds, snow-covered ground and city-glow from NYC!]


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