Light pollution, the silent factor that aggravates climate change

About a quarter of the Earth’s surface receives some form of artificial lighting at night, a fact that increases the release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) by plants and animals, contributing to aggravating climate change.

A study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Climate Change concludes that increasing light pollution influences the ‘metabolism’ of ecosystems, contributing to them emitting more CO₂ into the atmosphere.

To reach this conclusion, the researchers have turned to data from satellite observations and 86 measurement points of carbon fluxes in North America and Europe.
Their analysis reveals that night-time light pollution increases the ‘respiration’ of ecosystems, i.e. the process by which plants, microbes or animals release carbon dioxide through their activity and growth.

They release more, but do not absorb to the same extent: researchers have seen that this increase in exposure to artificial light does not mean a corresponding increase in photosynthesis by plants, the process by which they remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.

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