Night skies brighten 10% a year as LED lighting adds to light pollution
A Globe at Night study based on 50,000 observations found artificial night-sky brightness rising 10.4% annually in North America and 9.6% globally. Satellites underestimate the effect because they are less sensitive to the blue wavelengths of modern LEDs.
- 50,000 naked-eye observations from 2011 to 2022 underpinned the brightness estimates
- North American skies brighten 10.4% per year, global average 9.6%
- Orbital sensors miss blue LED wavelengths and understate skyglow
- A spot that once showed 250 stars now reveals barely 100
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