Light pollution can harm animals and ecosystems – study

Lester Kiewit speaks to science writer, Sibusiso Biyela.

Listen below.

As metropolitan and suburban areas across the country continue to grow, so does the need for adequate lighting to support the 24-hour economy.

But the reality is that building cities infringes on the environment and the animals that live in it.

A recent study looked at how the increase in artificial lighting impacts both domestic and wild animals.

Focusing on a single-striped grass mouse, scientists expected the rodent to become more active under artificial light but found that the opposite occurred.

“The big idea here is that there are so many different ways that our city infrastructure, such as artificial light, interact with these animals… We need to understand before we build, take into consideration how it will affect them.”

Sibusiso Biyela, science writer

“These creatures might go extinct or might be endangered or disturbed in some way that will affect the ecosystem in ways that we don’t understand.”

Sibusiso Biyela, science writer

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.