Yesterday evening, I was in Bugis area. The sky was already dark and my attention shifted to this newly built tall building. I was attracted by its lights glowing in the night sky. The designs were very different from the usual night lights from other buildings. It was opulent and I stood there watching the lights in awe.
But slowly, a train of thoughts emerged on how much of energy would be consumed in this process, if it is burning the whole night, for 365 nights per year, and for so many years- I started getting paranoid about how cruel we were behaving towards Mother Earth. The side effect of burning lights, even if they are the efficient types is the heat that it generates. Eventually, even if the type of bulb used is highly efficient and produces the least amount of carbon footprint, it still contributes to global warming that is indelible.
All these skyscrapers along the river, in CBD that are lighted against the dark skies are not merely tourist attractions, but they are iconic of the country's economy, infrastructure and its pride. The more people want to view it, the more decorative- in other terms, more light bulbs are burnt - more energy consumed- contributing more to global warming.
Image of Earth @ Night.
Source: NASA, 27th November 2000
The image of some parts of the earth at night, is just as it might appear during day time.
Apart from global warming being a major worry, there are other
issues that are equally disturbing. When was it that you last saw a pristine night sky with the stellar constellations? I would rather get convinced thinking that our kids and future generation will only view the Andromeda and Orion through their digital tabs and virtual skies than the REAL night sky. Yet another concern is that these lights cause confusion amidst nocturnal creatures that use natural moonlight and starlight as cues for migration. Large skyscrapers with artificial illumination have drastically changed nocturnal ecology- like hindering the hatching of sea turtles, confusing the food web of predators of night sky and so on.
Many countries these days consider this a mandatory trend to follow- light up the night sky. I personally believe that it acts as a tourist attraction that increases the influx of the tourists. For instance, the laser light show is run every night. The production needs 15 high power lasers, 30 high power searchlights, 9 high definition video projectors, half a million watts of light, 250,000 LED lights. From the incandescent to the CFL and now to LED light bulbs, the change has surely been for the good, yet the burning of 250,000 LED lights on a routine basis, that too twice everyday- I think is a bit too much that we have asked for.
Too much of commercialization has eventually demanded mankind to take as much as they can from Mother Earth. In this process, we have forgotten to give back to nature adequately, that we have already witnessed her acrimony by way of natural disasters. As simple as- how many trees are planted for every tree that is cut? How many of these man- made infrastructure has replaced the green nature of Mother Earth. I believe that it is time for us to stop and think, before we deplore our actions. Let us start at home, let us save ENERGY and do our little part in giving back to Mother Earth by growing plants at home. Also, REDUCE-REUSE-RECYCLE.
As an individual I can hope for a better world, hope for more number of Earth days than just one per year, hope for lesser number of bulbs to be burned by commercial service providers/ organizations during nights, hope for laser light shows to be run less frequently, hope for nocturnal ecology not to be disturbed, hope for Mother Earth to be safe.
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