Lisa Grossman

The night sky has been brightening2 faster than researchers realized， thanks tothe use of artificial3 lights at night. A study shows that the night sky grew about 10percent brighter， on average， every year from 2011 to 2022.

A baby born in a region4 where about 250 stars can be seen every night wouldsee only 100 stars on his 18th birthday.

The perils5 of light pollution go far beyond not being able to see as many stars.Too much brightness at night can harm peoples health， send birds flying intobuildings， and draw pollinating6 insects toward lights instead of plants.

In a way， this is a call to action. People should consider that this does haveinfluence on our lives. It influences our health. It influences other animals whocannot speak for themselves.

Some simple solutions7 include dimming8 or turning off lights overnight，especially floodlighting or lights in empty parking lots.

The good news is that you just have to turn a switch9 and the problem goesaway. However， its easier said than done. This problem of light pollution is madeby billions of individual10 decisions.

由于夜間使用了人造光，夜空變亮的速度比研究人員想象的要快。一項研究顯示，從2011 年到2022 年，夜空平均每年變亮10%左右。

一個出生在每晚大約有250 顆星星可見的地區(qū)的嬰兒，在18 歲生日時也許只能看到100 顆星星。

光污染的危害遠不止看不到那么多星星。夜晚過亮?xí)p害人們的健康，會讓鳥飛進建筑物，會把授粉昆蟲引向燈光而不是植物。

從某種程度上來說，這是一個行動的號召。人們應(yīng)該考慮到，這確實對我們的生活產(chǎn)生了影響。它影響我們的健康。它影響到其他無法為自己發(fā)聲的動物。

一些簡單的解決方案包括夜間調(diào)暗或關(guān)閉燈光，尤其是泛光燈或空停車場的燈。

好消息是，你只要撥動開關(guān)，問題就會迎刃而解。然而，說起來容易做起來難。

光污染的這個問題是由數(shù)十億人的個人決定造成的。

Notes

1. obscure? 遮掩；遮蔽

2. brighten? 使明亮

3. artificial 人造的；人工的

4. region 地區(qū)；區(qū)域

5. peril 危險；問題

6. pollinate? 對……授粉

7. solution? 解決辦法

8. dim? 使……變暗

9. switch 開關(guān)；電閘

10. individual 個人的