How many people know about the effects of light pollution? Not many people. The few that do know about several of the effects may not know how severe the after effects are. The lighting is causing many problems to our health, our environment, and its even affecting crime rates. With all of the lights baby sea turtles are crawling into streets and being run over, birds are being distracted and confused. Having lights on all of the time is what causes the United States to have the highest breast cancer rate. Excessive lighting is actually HELPING us be robbed and becoming victims of crime.

Light pollution has many effects on our environment. But some of the effects aren’t as noticeable as others, yet they are all affecting our everyday life. Some of the greater and more noticeable affects include: bird behavior caused by artificial lighting, the disruption of tree and shrub growth that are controlled by daytime length, and the dieing of migratory birds that collide with lights. These are problems that can easily be fixed and stopped. If these things aren’t stopped one day we might not be able to watch the migratory birds. We might not be able to observe the blooming of beautiful shrubs and trees that rely on the changing of night and day. Eventually all of these things will stop and no longer will we be able to enjoy walks in the park and the wildlife that relies on trees for homes.

Light pollution doesn’t have an affect on just our everyday environment, but it also takes a great toll on our health. The continuous light is causing more women in the United States to develop breast cancer more rapidly than in any other country. The light affecting our health is every where, may it be from working a graveyard shift, leaving the TV on over night, a street light outside, and many others. The human body has its own natural melatonin cycle, which is greatly interrupted by the 24-hour day. When the melatonin cycle is interrupted, the estrogen level in our body may become unbalanced which in return causes breast cancer. But don’t think that just because you’re a guy makes you invincible to breast cancer, because men get it also.

Light pollution also affects our crime rate, believe it or not. Most people tend to believe that more light equals less crime. Wrong. With more light shining on a targeted area, robbers and thieves are now able to see what they’re doing. Some cities with a higher light pollution rate have a higher crime rate like Miami. FBI studies have also shown that the amount of light has an effect, in lighted areas shadows and dark spots are created which cause the victim to be unaware of the criminal and the victim is taken by surprise. With all of the shadows and dark spots caused by excessive lights, it makes a women walking to her car more subject to an attacker, it makes a child taking out the trash more subject to a kidnapper.

Now to answer the question, how many people know about the effects of light pollution? The exact number probably not very large, but now one more knows. One more person knows about how lighting is destroying my environment. One more person knows why the United States has the highest breast cancer rate. And one more person knows why crime rates are so high in lighted areas.