Among the consequences of light pollution are not only poor sleep, but also serious health problems. Light is smog may trigger psychogenic disease and increase the risk of lifestyle diseases, such as breast cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Outdoor lighting bothers half of Czechs
According to a study by German scientists in the world is rising rate of light pollution each year by about 6 percent. The culprit is primarily expanding systems of public lighting that shines too strongly, and in the wrong direction. "A typical example of bad practice lamps are mounted inclined or those that are at the bottom embossed cover. Inappropriate covers reflects and scatter light horizontally and obliquely upward, thereby not only glare but also impair visibility at night. New white luminous sources in this regard are even worse than the previous orange sodium vapor lamps, "says Dr. Jan Hollan that light pollution in the long term scientifically devotes at Masaryk University in Brno.
The situation is worsened even lit and glowing heavily advertising space, such as the city lights and billboards. Light smog profusely fueling and lighting monuments, which is absurdly powerful and pointing not only to buildings but also around them and above them. From a marketing research for the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, indicates that excess and intensity of outdoor lighting at least sometimes resent 45 percent of Czechs. Almost half of the people then artificial lights shining into the room where lie down to sleep.
Poor sleep increases the risk of cancer and psychogenic illness
Absence dark night sky while can really sign on human health. Darkness is in fact important to the production of the hormone melatonin, sleep patterns that the human body and allows him to regenerate. When you sleep poorly in darkened rooms with melatonin production decreases and the length and depth of the rest decreases significantly. After a short sleep, poor people are less concentrated, but if problems persist longer, can result in depression and other psychogenic illness. "Correct production of melatonin affects other parts of our hormonal system. Sleep in daylight or lack of sleep and leads to an increased risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity, "warns Michael Bittner of the Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment - RECETOX, Masaryk University.
Cities slowly coming up with solutions, citizens must help themselves
City governments still comes with a conceptual solution to the luminance noise is very slow. Light smog possible while eliminating the right choice of design and outdoor lighting fixtures or type of advertising regulation. Protection of natural sleep and biological rhythms and citizens must take into their own hands and defend it to light the interior finish within their dwelling. People who are not exposed to light from the outside to sleep, used to install blinds or shutters. Increasingly them choose the blackout systems with automatic timer, which simulate the course of the day and transmits light under the sunshine outside. "Almost 20 percent of Czechs resent that because of the forced blackout comes on natural morning light. The gradual dawn has a fundamental influence on the correct starting organism and activation of brain activity, "says Lubomír Valenta from the company Lomax. "Recently we register it in the winter, demand for the installation of blinds and shutters in real estate in cities over 10,000 population," said Valenta. Now winter is because the human body is biologically set to sleep much longer than in the summer, and that's why people perceive the consequences of the lack of intense darkness.
Source: tz Lesenský.cz