Others saw electric lighting as a sunlight replacement under the complete control of humans. Still, most cities turned off these lights during a full moon, preferring “a twilight level of illumination to be the ideal,” according to Urban Lighting, Light Pollution and Society. Los Angeles was among the first cities to introduce tower lights, which were erected on poles high above street level in the 1880s. But the invention of electricity meant humans could harness virtually unlimited stores of bright light. Until the 1870s, light was synonymous with fire. Even younger Los Angeles was camouflaged between the imposing San Gabriel Mountains and the yawning Pacific Ocean - until 1875. Bye bye, stars.įor those who live in urban areas, it’s shocking to think that older cities like London and New York were almost entirely dark upon nightfall. The move slashed energy use by 60% and netted $8 million in energy savings per year however, LEDs emit more, bluer light than old technology. In recent years it’s become even more of a problem, when the city installed 165,000 LED streetlights. The city’s light pollution emits an intense sky glow, also known as the bright halo that appears over urban areas at night. With the largest municipal street system in the nation and infamous urban sprawl, L.A. Light pollution is a particular concern in Los Angeles due to its geographical tendency to trap coastal haze and refract light more dramatically. “Since so many of us never see a non-light-polluted night sky from one year to the next, a mythology about what the people think a true star-filled sky looks like has emerged,” said Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory.Ĭities worldwide have been blotting out the night sky for over a century. Los Angles’ light pollution in 1908 (left) and 2017 (right).

And then there was light 2017