Our Night Skies Are Getting Brighter

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2023

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you live in a city, you've likely noticed that it's kind of difficult to see the stars at night through the glow of artificial lighting. That urban lighting bubble is getting brighter every year. So what can we do about it? KQED Science reporter Sarah Mohamad shines the light on light pollution, and where you can still go connect with the cosmos. Additional Reading: In Search of Bright Stars: Can the Bay Area Reduce its Worsening Light Pollution? Read a transcript of this episode here Get tickets to our Bay Curious book launch variety show! Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest This episode was reported by Sarah Mohamad. Bay Curious is made at member-supported KQED by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, and Christopher Beale. Special thanks to Paul Lancour and Kevin Stark. Additional support from Carly Severn, Cesar Saldaña, Jen Chien, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From K-QED. A few years ago I was on this backpacking trip in the Sierra and way out there,
0:08.9	probably 10 or 15 miles deep into the wilderness, the thing that struck me the most was how just magnificent
0:16.7	the night sky could be. Stars, constellations, galaxies, heck even the little blinking satellites floating by.
0:27.0	Looking up at the sky, it was like I'd never truly seen it before, and maybe I hadn't. In most of our urban environments too much light
0:36.9	gets in the way and it's harder to see what's out there. Bea curious listener Bruce
0:41.9	Wismer knows this problem well. He lives in the East Bay and at night the skies above his home are a glow. A wash in the oranges from the Port of Oakland and further west the bright white lights from the Bay Bridge.
0:56.0	On the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, some lights point straight up significantly increasing light pollution.
1:02.0	I'm curious about how this was approved.
1:04.3	Can they be easily redirected to reduce impact on the night sky?
1:07.7	Bruce grew up in the small town of Forestville in Sonoma County where the stars were clear and bright, but in Oakland not so much.
1:16.5	He misses having that great view. I've always enjoyed looking the sky and just
1:21.3	laying on your back when it's a moonless night and seeing everything there is to see the occasional satellite passing by and occasionally the space station.
1:32.0	It's just a sense of wonder to look at everything.
1:35.0	This week on the show we'll learn about light pollution and answer Bruce's question
1:41.0	about the Bay Bridge.
1:42.0	Then we've got some tips on how you can
1:44.6	become a seasoned stargazer in no time. And be sure to stick around after the
1:49.1	episode for our monthly trivia contest. I'm Olivia Alan Price and this is Bay Curious.
1:58.7	Support for Bay Curious is brought to you by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, still family owned, operated, and argued over.
2:07.0	Explore their brews wherever fine beverages are sold and taste how trailblazing runs in the family.
2:14.0	Visit Sierra Nevada.com to find your new favorite beer today.
2:20.0	To answer Bruce's question about reducing light pollution from the Bay Bridge, we turn to KQED science reporter Sarah.
	...

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