Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, cold LED light is part of the problem. Better focusing only mitigates the problem they are posing.
Can you explain what you mean about the risks of cold LED light? I'm unfamiliar with this problem
Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
61–70 of 481 posts
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Amen. I would kill for this. I keep my own outside lights off, so there's a bit less blindy light pollution on my end of the street. It's the same reason I never report the nearby street lights when they go out. The best outdoor light is less.
Ahem... I seem to recall that the masts of most streetlights are rather thin. Which meant that one could kick them a few times in ways that make the mast swing. Which could be rather large and abrupt swings at the top, which led to "Wackelkontakt"/ loss of contact, and thus darkness. It was even reversible! Your own personal kick switch for public street lights!
That's a good way to get in trouble, and rightfully so. We're not having streetlights because we want to kill insects, we have them for safety reasons. You do not want to travel in absolute darkness in a city with cars around.
Trying to interfere with that because you're too lazy to buy a black-out curtain is a terrible idea.
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#63There are loads of foxes and bats in big cities in Germany already. There are tons of insects as well. Humans are already not allowed to build anywhere because of environmental regulations (unless you are a corrupt politician) and to keep the rents high. Germany is getting more and more ridiculous. People must use energy saving bulbs to increase the profit for Philips, but one can legally burn 100l of fuel per day in…
Insects are kind of vital to us. Without them, you can't have crops or fruits, no agriculture. The drop in population is already concerning.
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#64Well as I have posted before, my neighborhood went full LED last year with street lights and so every night is like a full moon. This has become widespread not just in subdivisions but everywhere as people see LED lighting as free.
Perhaps they were a bit oversold.
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#65I actually was sitting outside a few nights ago and realized that there was no more fireflies, and I couldn't remember the last time I had seen one. I used to go out all the time during summer as a kid to catch them, they would light up whole fields. That was just like 15 years ago. Pretty sobering realization
My backyard in Louisiana has quite a few of them at night. I see probably 20 - 50 a night back there.
My backyard in Louisiana has zero, zilch, nada. However; when I lived in NYC, I would see them all of the time on riverside.
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Used to be 100's or 1000's of them during the peak in summer where I lived. Now it's a handful. This is out in a rural area, so urban lighting doesn't explain the decline. If I had to wager money, I'd say it was a blight introduced by another insect. Around the same year I saw an invasion of Asian lady bugs, the firefly memories stop. There were literally millions and millions of those Asian lady bugs released or hat…
Plenty of fireflies in my yard. As prevalent as ever [1]. This is just an anecdote, but I give that anecdote as another person who lives in a somewhat rural location. Speaking of the lady bug explosion, this year they are incredibly rare [2]. Not sure why, but they went from being a massive nuisance to being a very rare sight (of any variety). Humans are absolutely having a calamitous effect on insect life in a varie…
I've listened to this conversation several times without looking it up, so:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly#Conservation
"Firefly populations are declining worldwide, for a variety of reasons.[25] Fireflies, like many other organisms, are directly affected by land-use change (e.g. loss of habitat area and connectivity), which is identified as the main driver of biodiversity changes in terrestrial ecosystems.[26] Pesticides and weed-killers have also been indicated as a likely cause of firefly decline.[27]"
"Finally, since fireflies depend on their own light to reproduce [28] they are also very sensitive to environmental levels of light and consequently to light pollution.[28][29] Multiple recent studies investigate deeply the effects of artificial night lighting on fireflies.[30][31]"
[25]: https://www.firefly.org/
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#67This is awesome , I wish more countries did the same. Also good news for stargazers, you see more stars at night when city lights are dim or use protection to avoid light pollution.
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#68I wonder how many centuries it might take for the US to start to care about insects or the environment like some European countries do with the recent regress in policies overall that isn't about ONLY increasing overall GDP in the US. And I say this even not considering Trump, which is a big menace. But democrat candidates in the US also don't care about the environment, not showing much promise. So do the Americans…
Some European countries, named here, only very recently cared more about insects than people.
Fun fact: they started to care (only), because it's going to affect people. The drop in insect populations has become concerning. Without them, no crops, no fruits, no agriculture, which isn't that great a prospect for humans.
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#69This is good; we've badly underestimated the cost of excess light pollution. Also good is using more LED street lamps that focus the light where we need it, rather than all over the place. Light pollution is bad, and street lights are very power hungry, with the old sodium lights consuming up to 0.25kWh per hour.
250W...
Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects
#70What's the benefit for humans and why can't it be done any other way? I'm not a big fan of encountering insects. Very weird to see someone would actually want to protect them in cities. > Light traps for insects are to be banned outdoors So you won't be able to kill mosquitoes outside?
Insects are a vital part of Earth's ecosystem, providing food for larger animals and (especially crucial for us) pollination.
> So you won't be able to kill mosquitoes outside?
There are plenty of other, more specific ways to do that, no? The problem with light traps is they are indiscriminate.
Not to mention that if you apply some repellent, you don't need to kill them at all.