The Problem of Light Pollution

Seeing an increase in light pollution and a decrease in natural darkness, Paul Bogard in his essay “Let there be Darkness” uses logic to persuade the reader to preserve darkness. Opening the essay with a personal experience from the past, he convinces the reader of the danger of light pollution. The author uses statistics, pathos, and science to support his thesis.

Light pollution is becoming a major problem in today’s society, according to many. Experts believe is presents many problems to our lives and futures. In the Los Angeles Times article “Let There Be Dark,” by Paul Bogard, he uses evidence that emphasizes the major need for darkness, uses dramatic language to buttress his argument that this is an important issue that needs to be urgently dealt with, and presenting his reasoning that it is a solvable problem.

There are various types of air pollution contributors in California such as fire generated pollutants and vehicle traffic, which add particulate matter and carbon monoxide into the air we breathe. According to an article by Union of Concerned Scientists (Cars, trucks, and air pollution, 2014) particulate matter is made up of fine particles soot and metal that can pose serious threats to human health when deep in the lungs. Other pollutants emitted from vehicles are: nitrogen oxide which lowers the body’s defense system against respiratory infections such as pneumonia, carbon monoxide which blocks oxygen from reaching vital organs, sulfur dioxide which is emitted by both power plants and vehicles affect children and asthmatics, and hazardous air pollutants (toxics) which are chemicals that are linked to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014).

In Paul Bogard article, “Let There Be Dark”. The reader gets a look at light pollution. Bogard explain the purpose of his writing when he states, “ We will never truly address the problem of light pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable value and beauty of the darkness we are losing.” Bogard builds his argument by using pathos, logos, and ethos to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved.

A world without the excessive use of vapid lighting will allow people to enjoy the magnificent stars as captured in Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. Bogard then moves on to establishing the beauty of Paris as the “City of Light”. In stark contrast to its status as a city illuminated by beautiful artificial lighting, the city has taken steps to limit the use of these excessive lighting, in turn turning Paris from “a city of light” to “a city of light … before 2AM.” This dichotomy allows Bogard’s audience to appreciates the importance of preserving the night sky via limiting the presence of artificial light. If a city which is famed for its use of artificial lighting is able to preserve the natural darkness while concurrently preserving its natural beauty, it is a given that society will be able to mimic this

1. What is the difference between the type of smog experienced by cities in the eastern United States and that found in Southern California? early people burned wood for heat and cooking fires in enclosed spaces such as caves and small tents or houses. And Photochemical smog is the abundance of cars and sunshine that provided the perfect setting for a chemical reaction between some of the molecules in auto exhaust or oil refinery emissions.

Air Pollution today has lead CDC's fight against environmental -related respiratory illness, including asthma.An estimated number of 6.5 million deaths are attributed each year to poor air quality, making this the world's largest threat to human health.According to the World Energy Outlook and the IEA estimate that death due to household air pollution in Africa may decrease by 110,00 to 2040.However, due to economic growth, urbanization and automobile emissions, outdoor air pollution may rise from 300,00 to 450,000 over the same period. Am going to be looking at the causes of air pollution. the problems emerging with air pollution and also how we as a community can help decrease the amount of death rate associated with air pollution.I remember growing up in Africa Air pollution was always a talk about a subject that always comes out because it is really contagious due to the fact that we are breathing bad air that is caused by our human contribution to the environment.Air pollution is considered to be a public health problem, it is responsible for most of our health problems after some research has been conducted in many different parts of the world and regions. According to the Geochemistry and Health paleopathological research suggests that air pollution is a form of smoke, plagued our oldest ancestors.Air pollution has emerged as one of the leading risk factors for stroke worldwide.

Author, Paul Bogard, in his analytical persuasive writing, “Let there be dark”, acknowledges that our nights aren’t as dark as they were for past generations due to growing reliance on artificial lighting. Bogard’s purpose is to convey the unhealthy habits that come with the usage of artificial light and its effects on our health as both individuals and a society. Bogard justifies this by stating “All life evolves to the steady rhythm of bright days and dark nights. Today, though, when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly for a light switch.

Light pollution is a comparatively unknown and yet relatively serious problem that is constantly growing. Because of the way most lights are designed they throw light not just down, where it's needed, but also up and to the sides. This causes unnecessary light to be cast that can disorient animals as well as throw off their normal routines.

Arizona is on the rise as one of the fastest metropolitan areas in the United States of America. In fact, in 2015 Forbes Magazine ranks Phoenix, Arizona as the 11th fastest growing city in the U.S.1 This growth is due the unprecedented resources and growing opportunities in the state of Arizona. With all of these opportunities come more production, which means more emissions from various industries and cars, more fossil fuels burned, and household and farming chemicals added to the sky. All of these are examples of pollution; which is one the sacrifices that comes with being a large city that is emerging. Pollution is defined as the action or process of making land, water, air, etc., dirty and not safe or suitable to use.2 We understand that Phoenix is a rapidly growing city, but they should be able to grow without being a detriment to the environment and health of their citizens. The purpose of my report is to examine the problem of air pollution in Phoenix, Arizona and look at solutions to fix this problem.

Paul Bogard builds an argument by trying to convince people that light pollution is bad. Bogard also lists some negative effects of our, "nights growing brighter." He begins to list examples of how brighter nights have affected the human race in the short amount of time light has been available. One example he gives is that darkness allows our body to produce melatonin. Obviously, if more light is being used, this hinders humans from producing this hormone, which could lead to negative effects.

Paul Bogard gave new insight to an issue that needs to be solved. Light pollution. Using various elements, he provided his audience with new information about light pollution.

Wentzel noted, my team and I can notice the impact that light pollution has when trying to observe and locate astronomy topics in the night sky. All of the light post and lit up building on campus make the night above us (our Zenith) very blurry and make it difficult to locate a star constellation or planets that can be seen. An illustration that can be given to compare this is an example of a camera lens. If one is attempting to take an HD picture with a camera that is capable of doing such a thing, and after taking a picture multiple times the photo is coming our blurry or smudged. The camera lens perhaps just needs to be wiped and clean, after doing the cleaning the quality of the picture is finally becoming clear and the results are what were expected. This light pollution doesn’t just affect students or Dr. Wentzel’s time from observing the night sky, it also affects the animals around campus (as discussed previously). Thus, the question is, how can the Milligan community limit or eliminate light

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In a modern building daylight can provide most of our lighting needs for the vast majority of the working day. It is therefore unnecessary to spend too much time in designing artificial lighting systems.