The Milky Way galaxy once provided nighttime illumination, inspiring ancient cultures. However, light pollution now obscures it from 80% of Americans and a third of the world’s population. A 2016 study produced the most accurate assessment of global light pollution, with countries like Singapore, Italy, and South Korea being heavily affected. Canada and Australia still have areas of “dark sky.”
Before the advent of electric lighting, the inhabitants of the Earth received illumination at night from the Milky Way galaxy. The brilliant trail of stars splashing across the night sky provided dazzling inspiration for early Egyptians, who likened it to a “pool of cow’s milk” and Hindu poets, who saw the mass of stars as a dolphin swimming in the sky. However, nighttime views of our galaxy have largely become a thing of the past, as light pollution now obscures the Milky Way from 80 percent of Americans and a third of the world’s population as a whole.
Back when the stars came out at night:
The research by Italian and American scientists – published in the journal Science Advances in 2016 – has produced the most accurate assessment yet of the global impact of light pollution.
“We have entire generations of people in the United States who have never seen the Milky Way,” said scientist Chris Elvidge. “It’s an important part of our connection to the cosmos, and it’s been lost.”
Light pollution is extensive in countries such as Singapore, Italy and South Korea. Canada and Australia still have relatively large areas of “dark sky”.
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