More than 80% of the world 'cannot' see the night sky

Light pollution has been the leading cause of about 80% of the world's population, 99% of the US and European population "cannot" see the night sky and the Milky Way with thousands of stars.

In Vietnam, the region with the most severe pollution is the Southeast , where many industrial facilities are concentrated and the process of urbanization is dizzying.

Artificial light represents the civilization of humanity.

It can be affirmed that artificial light represents the civilization of humanity. However, this same light is making people forget that there is a beautiful night sky right behind that brilliant curtain.

Currently, human beings are faced with a lot of pollution. In addition to air pollution can be observed and felt, there is a silent but dangerous form of pollution, which is light pollution.

Light pollution not only seriously affects the health and ecological environment but also indirectly affects scientific and astronomical activities, causing the phenomenon of changing biological and behavioral rhythms on species. object.

Humans are facing a lot of pollution.

To contribute to a more general view of light pollution, Science Advances, a scientific journal of the American Association of Advanced Science, recently released a global map of light pollution . The map uses high-resolution satellite data and methods to accurately measure the brightness of the sky.

Light pollution is a variation of the level of natural light caused by human artificial light sources. The level of natural light comes mainly from the light of the moon, stars and the Milky Way galaxy.

According to the map, more than 80% of the world's population and more than 99% of the US and European population never seem to see the night sky due to the level of light pollution. About one-third of the human population consists of 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of the North American population cannot observe the galaxy at night.

The map shows the impact of light pollution on the night sky.

When observing the map, the dark gray area (1-2%) shows places that seem to have not been affected much by light pollution. The blue area (8-16%) indicates moderate pollution levels and the sky can still be observed.

The yellow areas will be the place where it is almost impossible to see the night sky. Orange represents the places there, people seem to have lost the feeling of dark, easier to understand than those that are completely replaced by artificial light.

Red indicates the level of pollution has reached the most severe. In these geographic regions, people will never experience the feeling of a true night because, they are immersed in the artificial light like the brilliant sunset afternoons.

A geographic analysis showed that if people wanted to see a true night sky, they would have to go to areas like the Nile Delta, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Padana plain in northern Italy. the strip of land from Boston to the city chain is located in the northeast of the United States.

World artificial light distribution chart (percentage above natural light level).The level changes in the direction of increasing from black to white.

Areas of serious light pollution like London, people who will have to move to Liverpool / Leeds can see the night sky. In China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, people seem to have no choice but to go to areas outside Beijing or Taipei.

A true sky with artificial brightness <1% may be encountered in Switzerland, or northwest Scotland, Algeria and Ukraine.

The islands are also less affected by artificial light. Some examples include Nova Scotia in eastern Canada or the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago located on the Atlantic Ocean and also the least affected place in the world.

Below is a summary chart of the most affected and least affected countries by artificial lighting:

Next is a detailed map of areas contaminated with light:

North America area.

South America region.

Europe area.

Africa region.

Asia region.

Oceania region.

Among the G20, Saudi Arabia (83%) and South Korea (66%) countries have the highest rates of light pollution , whereas Germany is the country with the lowest pollution rate. . These are also the two countries with the highest levels of pollution in the world with Kuwait (98%) and Qatar (97%).

Countries like Chad, Central African Republic (0.29%) and Madagascar are currently the least polluted countries. The territory is almost free from light pollution, Greenland with 0.12% pollution rate. In Asia, the leading countries in light pollution like Singapore and Korea. In Vietnam, the region with the most severe pollution is the Southeast, where many industrial facilities are concentrated and the process of urbanization is dizzying.

Conclusion in the scientific report, the research team and mapping light pollution hope, this will be indisputable evidence for each country, and the map will contribute to promoting more research scientific research to find a solution to the problem of light pollution of mankind.