Modern society is a very complicated system; one of the complexities is the fact that the production and the consumption usually are located at different places, far from each other. Production and consumption are in this respect not restricted to material items: information and means for cultural or physical recreation and enjoyment are part of them. All this requires a very large amount of transportation; a large proportion of this it is road transportation of persons or goods. The perfection of artifical lighting permitted to have such transportation at night in the absence of (natural) daylight: life can go on also after sun-set! From this point of view, artificial lighting is one of the major assets of our - technological - culture. Because a large part of the transportation of persons and goods takes place on the open road, there is a great need for outdoor lighting. This outdoor lighting, however, has serious drawbacks: it causes disturbance and discomfort for many persons many of whom has nothing to do with the transportation for which the lighting is installed. Here we are facing 'light trespass'. Light trespass has victims; one may indicate three major groups of victims: the astronomers, the residents and the naturalists. The first are restricted in their possibilities to make accurate observations; the second are disturbed in their indoor life, particularly in their rest and sleep, and the third are disturbed and annoyed by the damage to night life in nature. We will concentrate in this paper on the first; it should be noted, however, that the other two groups of victims represent large numbers and that their objections towards light trespass are fully justified. (Author/publisher)
Abstract