Northumberland dark skies officer speaks on light pollution at the Royal Astronomical Society Conference
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Duncan Wise was instrumental in securing International Dark Sky Status for the park in 2013. Passionate about the benefits of maintaining dark skies, he was invited to a conference by the RAS – a charity which promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and related branches of science.
The conference took place on January 30 at Burlington House in London, covering topics surrounding light pollution such as policy and regulation, the environment and biodiversity, and human health.
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Hide AdLight pollution refers to excessive or poor use of artificial outdoor light disrupts the natural patterns of wildlife, human sleep, contributes to the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and obscures the stars in the night sky.


Duncan explained: “It was really informative and inspiring. This is the first that the society has done specifically on light pollution and invited a list of experts in different fields to talk about the impacts, but also to look at case studies of where measures to reduce its effects have taken place.
“My role was to highlight that Northumberland was the first dark sky park in England, we’ve had that status now for 11 years and in that time we’ve spent time engaging tourism businesses and now farming businesses about the benefits of having dark skies and the opportunity that that provides in developing visitor experiences.”
Duncan described the effect dark sky parks have had on our economy: “Within a relatively short time, we’ve seen a tremendous growth in businesses developing dark sky tourism experiences, we have seen visitors coming in the winter months and loving the experience and the beauty of Northumberland at night.
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Hide Ad“We saw this surge of interest and so we decided in 2018 to try and quantify the value of dark sky tourism activity. The research was outstanding because it calculated that the value across Northumberland is worth £25 million a year to the visitor economy and is supporting around 450 jobs.”


“It’s been a game changer, there’s a lot here in Northumberland to celebrate, but there’s also a lot more to do in terms of improving the quality of our street lighting, and encouraging people not to over light areas.”
Duncan sends the message that although we are not being asked to stop using outdoor lighting altogether, we should be more considerate about the amount that we use and the type of light which is used.
To limit light pollution, it is suggested to use low-level, warm lighting which is angled downwards and not outwards. This should also only be used when necessary, and motion detectors and timers are useful in ensuring lights aren’t on when they aren’t needed.
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Hide AdDuncan expanded: "We are seeing the quality of darkness in even the most rural parts of our county being harmed by the installation of LED lights that are far too bright. “The main message we’re trying to send now is that we need to be careful in terms of how much outside lighting we put on our properties, we need to have lighting to make us feel safe enable us to walk at night but we are beginning to use too much artificial light.”
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