Alvaro Rios

English for Academic Purposes.

Light pollution: Snowball effect.

Everyone gets excited when they talk talking about big cities but behind those metropolitan cities a
huge problem is hidden. If, like most people, you live in a city, it's unlikely you can see the Milky
Way. It's possible you've never spotted it at all. This is the form of pollution most people have
forgotten: light pollution.

According to a study made by the Cambridge University says that if people are exposed to light while
sleeping, melatonin production can be suppressed. This can lead to sleep disorders and other health
problems such as headaches, worker fatigue to lack of sleep, stress and increased anxiety. This not
only affect to us but people around us as well.

Nowadays, if you try to look at the sky in a city like Santiago, you wont be able to look at one single
star because of the light pollution. A century ago you could walk outside at night in a city and see
the firmament across the night sky. If you want to do this today, you must drive for a couple of hours
in order to go far away of the city. This indicates that high population and lighting densities can
aggravate light pollution problem.

But, is not lo late to do something about this and you can start with the light switch. The cheapest,
most obvious and most effective way to reduce light pollution is to start turning things off. Another
way is providing light to complete necessary tasks such as reading, cooking or tasks related to
housekeeping is also a significant contribution to society.

Light pollution has been a widely-discussed topic in this decade. A series of short to long term
measures, including education, publicity and law enforcement should be implemented. Everybody
must recognize their roles in order to end with the problem and find a definitive solution.