International Ecology of Night symposium was very .. illuminating!
Don McCormick
Muskoka Magazine Nov 2003

In his keynote address to the recent international symposium, "Ecology of the Night," Monte Hummel, President of the World Wildlife Fund of Canada, threw down the gauntlet to the participants - don't just talk about it, do it!

Quoting Winston Churchill, he told the crowd, "When all is said and done, more is said than done," then challenged participants to move this symposium beyond the normal outcomes of most such gatherings, and to take action that would preserve the night skies from the unrestricted proliferation of artificial nighttime lighting.

Fifty participants, representing a wide range of backgrounds, from the scientific to the spiritual, gathered at the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre in Dorset, Sept. 22-24, to share information, identify the issues and design an action plan that would preserve the integrity of dark skies. The symposium was sponsored by the Muskoka Heritage Foundation, in cooperation with a number of other co-sponsors.

All living organisms are "tuned in" to the daily cycle of light and darkness. Modern society has increasingly intruded on that period of darkness with artificial lighting. There is an increasing body of knowledge that suggests all living organisms, ourselves included, are under some degree of threat from this rapidly increasing use of artificial lighting.

In the first phase of the conference, a variety of presenters spoke about dark skies in a wide range of perspectives - spiritual, cultural, astronomical, aesthetic, historical, natural or biological, human health and regulatory.

Terence Dickinson, who has done a lot to raise the profile of astronomy, presented a slide show of views of the night skies. This brought the entire audience to the place of awe and wonderment that has been inspirational to humankind since its very beginning. The sheer beauty and immensity of the universe made a powerful case for preserving dark night skies.

When the August 2003 power failure threw a large section of eastern North America into complete darkness, many people in Toronto were able to see the Milky Way for the first time in modern history. People living in areas lit up with artificial lighting "never see the glory of the night skies - nature at its finest," said Dickinson.

Rev. Johanne Hills, a minister at Trinity United Church in Gravenhurst, made a very eloquent looking at the night skies presentation from a spiritual perspective. When people look at the night skies, they are moved to awe. The stars are a reminder of God's presence. There is a need to protect these areas because they are restorative," she said.

The audience learned from plant physiologist, Dr. Tony Bidwell, how the normal light/dark cycle is "powerfully important in the development of many plants" and from biologist Dr. Bryant Buchanan, "that artificial night lighting has the potential to disrupt normal activity and behavior of nocturnal amphibians."

First Nations representatives Henry Lickers and Tom Hill told of the importance of the dark sky, the "velvet blackness," to native cultures. "The division of the day into dark and light represents the balance of Creation," explained Lickers. Night - with its sounds, its smells, its moon, its stars is to be embraced, not feared.

This view of night stands in stark contrast to the one put forth by Bill Stephenson, in which he describes night as historically being a time of fear. Lickers dismissed this view as a perversion propagated by the movie industry.

Artist Michael Mesure, described the plight of migratory birds who use the moon and stars for navigation, and who are disoriented by the light from large cities. Between a hundred million and one billion birds are lost each year - 193 every 60 seconds in Toronto alone - during migration season. He has formed an organization called FLAP, Fatal Light Awareness Program, to educate building owners to reduce the escape of light from their buildings.

Representatives from parks in both Canada and the United States explained that, while parks offer the best opportunity to protect night skies, this is not currently high on the managers' list of priorities. It will be necessary to get information about the importance of night skies into the hands of parks managers.

Glowing Moon Photograph: Terence Dickinson

The Muskoka-Parry Sound region might be considered a leader in this regard, since the local office of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is aware of and supports dark skies initiatives. In 1999, Torrance Barrens was designated a dark skies preserve, the first of its kind in Canada and one of the first in the world.

Jenik Hollan, scientist and astronomy professor from the Czech Republic brought a European perspective to the issue. He related some of the European successes and failures, as well as the planned developments in his homeland.

Dr. Joan Roberts, a professor of chemistry at Fordham University in New York, and Dr. Steven Lockley of the Harvard Medical School struck a chord with their accounts of the effect of light at night on human health. Humans have an internal clock that is "set" by the normal light/dark cycle of a normal day, called "circadian rhythm." If the dark/light cycle gets out of sync with one's established circadian rhythm, this can have dire consequences for human health.

The intrusion of light during the sleep cycle can disrupt the circadian rhythm and this, in turn, can upset the immune system and make a person more susceptible to disease, for example. Increased incidence of cancer among shift workers has been linked to this effect. It can also dramatically decrease work performance. Twenty-four hours of sustained wakefulness is equivalent, in its effect, to someone having a blood alcohol level of. 1 percent - above the threshold that makes one legally drunk.

Brian Whitehead, Director of Planning Services for the District of Muskoka, described some local experiences with trying to control light pollution. He has found that a balance approach is necessary. A combination of stewardship, municipal planning instruments (site plan control, official planning policies, subdivisions agreements) and municipal bylaws can be used with some effect. Unfortunately, planners lack the technical expertise to assess lighting plans. As well, it may be too onerous to require lighting plans from small commercial developments.

Tony Rutenberg is in the business of selling lighting systems. He also has impressive technical expertise and is an advocate of lighting that preserves the night skies. He demonstrated some of the equipment available on the market for lighting systems.

Equipped with a common knowledge base, the symposium participants broke up into four groups, each expected to deal with a specific perspective on dark sky issues - naturat/biological, scientific/physiological, cultural/historical and regulatory/governance. Each group was to pinpoint the concerns and develop a list of potential solutions.

A lack of awareness of the problem was seen as a major issue. Inclusion of light pollution in school curricula; presentations to professional, technical and trades organizations; getting the media to take an interest in the problem; lobbying of politicians at all levels; producing publications and websites with easy-to-read information are some of the measures proposed. A lack of respect, for others and for the law, was another problem. Ways of changing attitudes and values need to be explored, the groups advised.

This international symposium, the first of its kind in the Muskoka area, was certainly a good step in raising awareness for issues pertaining to dark skies.