The Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) has recently released a new Sector Resource on Light Pollution.

The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) defines light pollution as “any adverse effect of artificial light, including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste.” Light pollution not only is a sign of inefficiency in lighting and energy use, it can also have adverse effects on wildlife, particularly migratory birds, or other animals whose behavior is affected by light levels or that orient themselves based upon the glow of sunlight or moonlight at the horizon. For example, hatching sea turtles look for the moon glow on the horizon in order to find their way from the beaches where they are born to the sea. Light pollution from cities can confuse them, causing them to be lured away from the ocean toward the dangers of vehicle traffic and predators.

Sector Resources are collections of records for both online and hard copy material related to a particular industrial sector (e.g. “Agriculture”) or a topic of interest across a wide variety of sectors (e.g. “Energy Efficiency”). A list of expert contacts that may be consulted for further information on the subject at hand is also included within each Sector Resource, as well as relevant events, funding opportunities and archived questions and answers from the GLRPPR Help Desk. Each item listed within a Sector Resource has a full record, containing the item’s title, a brief abstract, a link to the item (if it is available online), date of publication, source and resource type. Price and ordering information are listed for hard copy items where available.

Currently, the Light Pollution Sector Resource includes links to general information on the topic, best practices, related organizations, relevant regulations and technological solutions. If you would like to suggest a resource to include, contact Laura Barnes or Joy Scrogum.

A complete list of all GLRPPR Sector Resources is available at http://www.glrppr.org/sectors/.

Canyon outcropping near MP5, Yakima Canyon, originally uploaded by Scott Butner.

It’s the bane of astronomers and night time photographers everywhere — light pollution! It robs us of the stars, cuts us off from the music of the spheres.

No, it’s probably not as bad as persistent toxins in the environment, but it’s a shame, nonetheless.

So, what to do? Well, it turns out that P2 can be applied to light pollution as well. Check out the International Dark Sky Association, for instance. They’ve produced a number of documents, including this guide to “good lighting/bad lighting.”

If you want something more…well, “Web 2.0″ — consider WikiHow’s article on “how to prevent light pollution.” Note the related article on “how to become an environmentalist” — in case you were wondering.

The Light From Above web site has a lot of resources — of varying quality — on light pollution for those interested in anything from the science to the policy of restoring darkness.

And, as you might expect — Sky and Telescope magazine has a great resource center on restoring dark skies.

Check ‘em out!