Join us at 530p to hear Dr. John Barentine speak on The Role Of Cities In Confronting The Loss Of Nighttime Darkness.

Light pollution is among the most serious environmental challenges of our time. While the use of artificial light at night (ALAN) grows at a rate double that of the rate of world population change, each year we learn more about its ecological, astronomical, public safety and energy security implications. As humanity steadily concentrates into cities, dense urban areas increasingly dominate the global landscape at night. While cities contribute disproportionately more light per capita than types other inhabited areas, their qualities also position them uniquely to contribute to solving the problem of light pollution. I will review the current global situation with light pollution before quickly focusing on the attributes of cities that present special challenges to controlling the growth of ALAN use. Lastly, I will discuss city-focused solutions that leverage both technology and public outreach to envision how cities of the future may be lit.