Night of Darkness spotlights harmful effects of light pollution
Belgium will turn out the lights on Saturday for the Night of Darkness, an initiative aiming to raise awareness of the need to combat light pollution.
The event features activities in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia. In Brussels there will be a night walk in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and activities including sky observations, storytelling walks, lectures, crafts and face painting at the Rouge-Cloître in Auderghem.
A dozen 14 Flemish cities and municipalities will switch off their street lighting. Antwerp will turn off the lights in around 50 of its buildings and monuments.
Normal darkness
“Light pollution occurs when artificial lighting is so prevalent that it interferes with normal and desirable darkness,” says the Association for the Protection of the Night Sky and Environment (Ascen), which organises the initiative in Brussels and Wallonia.
Light pollution disrupts nocturnal species. Insects, butterflies, bats, amphibians and migratory birds can all be affected by public, industrial, commercial or residential lighting. It also disrupts the natural cycle of several plants as well as people’s sleep.
Ascen also points to the energy and financial cost of lights being used “to illuminate empty car parks or monuments when there is no one outside”. It advocates a more rational use of light: “lighting what is necessary, when it is necessary and how it is necessary”.
All activities are listed on the websites of Ascen and Leve(n) de Nacht.
Illustration © PHOTO BELPRESS
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