SciLine Experts on Camera: Light Pollution With Dr. James Lowenthal

Event Date: 
March 18, 2025

Eighty percent of Americans can’t see the Milky Way from their backyards due to light pollution caused by artificial lighting.

To learn more about the science behind this issue, book a 15-minute, 1-on-1 Zoom interview with Dr. James Lowenthal (Smith College) on Tuesday, March 18 between noon-2 p.m. ET. He can discuss: 

  • The negative effects of light pollution on humans, such as elevated rates of diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers;
  • How excessive and poorly designed outdoor lighting, along with satellites in the sky, are diminishing darkness and threatening astronomy;
  • The impact of light pollution on wildlife, disrupting their feeding, mating and migration patterns;
  • What types of states laws have been created to protect the night sky; and
  • Why solutions to reduce light pollution may be relatively simple.

More information.

SciLine is a free service for journalists and scientists based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society. Editorially independent, nonpartisan, and funded by philanthropies, SciLine has a singular mission of enhancing the amount and quality of scientific evidence in news stories. Accuracy, clarity, fairness, transparency, and an unwavering commitment to evidence are core to that mission.

Event Details