tingilinde

vaccine lotteries

light pollution

Only 80% of North Americans can see the Milky Way. (five year old study - probably worse now)

 

The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness

 

Fabio Falchi,1* Pierantonio Cinzano,1 Dan Duriscoe,2 Christopher C. M. Kyba,3,4 Christopher D. Elvidge,5 Kimberly Baugh,6 Boris A. Portnov,7 Nataliya A. Rybnikova,7 Riccardo Furgoni1,8

Artificial lights raise night sky luminance, creating the most visible effect of light pollution—artificial skyglow. Despite the increasing interest among scientists in fields such as ecology, astronomy, health care, and land-use planning, light pollution lacks a current quantification of its magnitude on a global scale. To overcome this, we present the world atlas of artificial sky luminance, computed with our light pollution propagation software using new high-resolution satellite data and new precision sky brightness measurements. This atlas shows that more than 80% of the world and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans. Moreover, 23% of the world’s land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, 88% of Europe, and almost half of the United States experience light- polluted nights.

INTRODUCTION
Light pollution is the alteration of night natural lighting levels caused by anthropogenic sources of light (1). Natural lighting levels are governed by natural celestial sources, mainly the Moon, natural atmospheric emission (airglow), the stars and the Milky Way, and zodiacal light. During moonless nights, the luminance of the clear sky background far from the Milky Way and zodiacal light is about 22 magnitude per square arcsecond (mag/arcsec2) in the Johnson-Cousins V-band (2), equivalent to 1.7 × 10−4 cd/m2. Artificial light scattered in the atmo- sphere raises night sky luminance, creating the most visible negative effect of light pollution—artificial skyglow. In addition to hindering ground- based optical astronomical observations, the artificial brightening of the night sky represents a profound alteration of a fundamental human experience—the opportunity for each person to view and ponder the night sky. Even small increases in sky brightness degrade this experience. Light pollution is no longer only a matter for professional astronomers (3, 4). Although researchers from disparate fields are now interested in light pollution, its magnitude is poorly known on a global scale because mea- surements are sporadically distributed across the globe. To overcome this, we present the world atlas of artificial sky luminance, which was obtained with our dedicated light pollution propagation software using the new calibrated, high–dynamic range, high-resolution data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB), new precision charge-coupled device (CCD) brightness measure- ments, and a new database of Sky Quality Meter (SQM) measurements.

Light pollution is one of the most pervasive forms of environmental alteration (5). It affects even otherwise pristine sites because it is easily observed during the night hundreds of kilometres from its source in landscapes that seem untouched by humans during the day (6), damaging the nighttime landscapes even in protected areas, such as national parks (for example, the light domes of Las Vegas and Los Angeles as seen from Death Valley National Park). Notwithstanding its global presence, light pollution has received relatively little attention from environmental scientists in the past. This is changing, as attested by the rapidly increasing rate of published works on the subject.

The atlas we present here is intended to help researchers in all fields who may be interested in the levels of light pollution for their studies (for example, in astronomy, ecology, environmental protection, and economics).

 

 

maybe not europeans

The Māori may have discovered Antartica long before European explorers.

a tip of the hat to Sukie

 

what if the entire tropics were reforested?

Not the climate win some expect.  

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The reason is that other parts of the Earth system counteract the effect of the new tree growth. If the tropics were reforested, our model predicts that the oceans, soil and vegetation would absorb less carbon dioxide. By the end of the century, tropical trees would take up an extra 124 billion tonnes of carbon (or 124 gigatonnes, Gt), but tropical soils would take up 83 Gt less carbon, as the turnover of dead plants is much slower in forests compared with grasses and crops that die annually, meaning lower carbon inputs in forest soils and lower carbon storage.

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We need to stop emitting green house gases.

 

 

nice ride

women and long covid

Why are they more susceptable?

a tip of the hat to Sukie

 

 

the delta variant

Bob Wachter notes you really need most people to be vaccinated.  (longish thread)

snip

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2/ If you’re not vaccinated: I’d be afraid. Maybe even very afraid.
Why? Let’s start with the things that we know about the current situation, then layer in new information about the Delta (aka, Indian) variant, B.1.617.2 Then we’ll end with what I’d suggest you, and we, do.

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starting a spitfire

homemade in-flight meals

Recreating what the airlines serve.

 

 

"glacier blood"

I've seen this in Montana and in Yoho Park in Canada - we called it pink snow.

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Eric Maréchal, a coordinator at the ALPALGA project, told Live Science that people who frequent the Alps are seeing more red snow, and he recalled eyeing huge swaths of “glacier blood” on a 2019 hike. “Everywhere I put my eyes, it was red,” he said. “We walked all day, seeing surfaces stained in red.”

Scientists believe that rising levels of carbon dioxide may be fueling the growth of the photosynthesizing snow-borne microalgae. Likewise, changes in wind and snowfall may be delivering additional nutrients to algae, leading to the spread of “glacier blood.” However, researchers have yet to quantify changes in algae over time.

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fake a vaccine card and go to jail

Seems reasonable to me.

 

youthquake

For one Summer, NYC belongs to the young.

And getting around in the city is going back to the pre-app time for some.

 

 

 

line 3

Moving more tar sand oil through America - the sort-of sequel to Keystone.

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And that’s what puts the Biden administration in an impossible place now. Enbridge wants to replace Line 3, which runs from Canada’s tar sands deposits in Alberta across Minnesota to Superior, Wis., with a pipeline that follows a new route and would carry twice as much crude. It would carry almost as much of the same heavy crude oil as planned for the Keystone XL pipeline — crude that is among the most carbon-heavy petroleum on the planet.

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ian shapiro on democratic political systems and populism

I'm about two-thirds of the way through ,, this lecture is fascinating  Greg pointed it out and recommends the lecture that follows too.  (probably all of them are good)

the $40k scholarship

What Verda Tetteh did when she won it.

Every year some graduation story emerges - usually an inspiring speech.  This one is remarkable.