<story><title>Is artificial light poisoning the planet?</title><url>https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/27/darkness-manifesto-book-johan-eklof</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>fleddr</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m from the Netherlands, one of the most light-polluted areas on the planet and had my first proper dark night only in my 30s.&lt;p&gt;It was in South Africa. We were driving with a roofed jeep on some plains in search of nocturnal wildlife. Then, the driver stopped and told us to get out. It was freezing and he prepared hot chocolate from the back of the car.&lt;p&gt;He killed his search light and it got so dark that we could not see our own hands. And then we looked up.&lt;p&gt;Holy shit. I&amp;#x27;m not a melodramatic person but this was the first time in my life that I experienced living on a planet, connected to something far greater. I mean, I knew this to be the case, but I never &lt;i&gt;experienced&lt;/i&gt; it. Because I normally live under the clouds and a yellow haze.&lt;p&gt;I experienced it once more in Colombia where I could see the Milky Way with the naked eye.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s sad that an experience that should be a given has become so rare. I&amp;#x27;m especially frustrated with all the lights that have no purpose. Nobody goes to admire the architecture of your church at 3AM at night. Nor do you have to decorate your backyard so excessively with obnoxious lights whilst you are sleeping.</text></comment>
<story><title>Is artificial light poisoning the planet?</title><url>https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/27/darkness-manifesto-book-johan-eklof</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>a1pulley</author><text>HOAs have their downsides, but I do really appreciate one of my CC&amp;amp;Rs: in my ~4 square mile city, we are not allowed to have exterior lights apart from ones to illuminate driveways and patios. Moreover, there are no street lights in the entire city.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s an oasis of uncorrupted night in the unlikeliest of places: Los Angeles. You can see city lights from certain vantage points, but in most places it is pitch black. Living here feels like perpetual camping. It is wonderful, and it would be stressful for me to return to living in a place with perpetual illumination.</text></comment>