Light Pollution
Light pollution became a widespread issue in all developed parts of the world in the latter part of the 20th century as populations grew, night-time events became more common, and suburbia spread far and wide. While Brevard County still has some relatively dark-sky areas, especially in the northern part of the county, it is becoming increasingly difficult to escape the glare of unshielded lights that cause the night sky to brighten and hide all but the brightest stars.
This picture, from the National Atlas of the United States, shows the distribution of night lights
in East Central Florida as seen from space. The huge bright area to the left of the picture is Orlando,
of course. In Brevard County, on the right side of the picture, you can see that there are still some
relatively dark areas in the northeastern and southwestern areas of the county. From the BAS south observing
site in southwest Palm Bay, the lights of Melbourne and Palm Bay negatively affect views of
all but the brightest objects to the north and east, and even the lights of Orlando are clearly visible to
the northwest under certain conditions.
The good news about light pollution is that it can be largely eliminated without compromising safety or people's ability to move about in the nighttime environment. Sky glow is caused by light that is wasted because it shines up into the sky. Properly designed light fixtures and good lighting practices aim lights down, use only as much light as required, save energy, reduce sky glow and actually improve visibility by eliminating unnecessary glare. It's a win-win situation just waiting to be fixed.