Looking up at the night sky in the city, even if the sky is clear, fewer stars can be seen. This is mainly due to the light pollution caused by the bright lights of the city at night. However, scientists have recently discovered that light pollution not only causes astronomers trouble, it may even cause global air pollution to become more and more serious.
According to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States, a chemical called nitrate (generally anions of nitrates) is subject to street lighting restrictions and impediments, which can be decomposed by cars and factories. harmful gas.
A study conducted by Harald Stark, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States, in the city of Los Angeles, showed that light from buildings, street lights, and car lights can inhibit nitrate. "Our preliminary findings show that the city's lights can slow down the night's cleaning by 7%, and increase the amount of starting chemicals that cause ozone pollution the next day by 5%," Stark said. "We need the next step." A more accurate quantification of its effects, that is, how much ozone is actually produced in our city the next day, is important to carry out this work because many cities are already approaching the limits of ozone control, so even if it is as small as this The reaction may also have a great impact."
Although the light is much darker than the sun, it still has unacceptable adverse effects. For this reason, Stark proposed a possible solution, which is to change the color of the light to a less influential red, but this may not be practical. Stark has another simpler remedy to change the light direction to down. Because the smaller the lights are, the smaller the impact on the nitrate in the atmosphere.