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Post by Anna Miedema on Aug 17, 2023 11:09:27 GMT -5
Before even attempting research, I feel the effects of light pollution everyday. I am in an astronomy phase right now and I always try to look into the sky and look for certain shapes and moons, but rarely is the viewing experience ever perfect. I have to wait until it gets very dark out and sometimes I even have to travel to more rural areas. I completely understand the use of streetlamps as it pertains to pedestrian safety and would even vouch for more streetlamps. However, the thing that I will never understand is why businesses will leave all of their lights on overnight so it looks like they’re open 24/7. This form of light pollution can definitely be reduced and will need to be if we want a healthier planet in the future. The state of our planet is not looking good right now and little things can be done to help.
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Post by Emerson on Aug 20, 2023 15:40:05 GMT -5
In Our Vanishing Night, Klinkenborg discusses the topic of light pollution and how that has an effect on the environment. Humans have changed many things about the planet we live on and most of them are positive. Things like pollution, global warming, and deforestation all happened because of us. Yes, we have made some improvements but most of those things we improved were problems that we caused in the first place. I think that it is definitely our place to worry about the effect of the way we live because it doesn't just impact us, but also others around us. It is important to take into consideration how one little thing we do can impact lots of other things. As Lizzie said, you may think that turning off the lights in the house at night would not change anything, but if thousands of people all did that there would be some change that could happen. So, I think that if we realize even the little actions that we do to help change the planet for the better can help to counteract some of the negative things we have done in the past. I think that at this rate if we don't do much to change the way we are currently going about things, we won't have much of a planet left in a hundred or a thousand years.
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Post by Maya Alvarez on Aug 21, 2023 14:56:59 GMT -5
In reference to Klinkenborg's "Our Vanishing Night," the author stresses the expansion of light pollution over time as well as its impacts on Earth's inhabitants. Every highway, parking lot, store, house, and restaurant is fully lit with artificial light. Even natural spaces like parks and beaches. These man-made additions harm biological patterns of animal migration, nesting, as well as times of being awake, which can affect species in a plethora of negative ways. Humans also have had numerous ways of polluting the planet and botching up ecosystems such as deforestation, overconsumption, urbanization, fossil fuels, overfishing,and plainly just living off of unsustainable practices. Leading to the number one problem facing planet Earth; Global Warming. Purely started by humans, and now is a huge problem for society to be concerned about, because it will kill our home if change is not enacted soon. Problems will worsen if there are no sustainable changes being made. In one hundred years from now, some cities are going to be underwater, more species go extinct, the days will be very hot, frequent natural disasters will occur, and many more things. It is certainly humanity's place to educate themselves on climate change and their footprint on this Earth, as well as what they can do to prevent climate change and keep our home plentiful for future generations of all creatures on the planet.
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Post by Ari Johnson on Aug 21, 2023 22:49:47 GMT -5
We as humans have changed the Earth and its ecosystem in many different ways. One of the main ways we changed the Earth was through pollution. Pollution such as air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, and even light pollution have caused so many problems for not only us, but for animals as well. Carbon emissions have caused air pollution as well as global warming and throwing trash in the ocean has harmed the water and the animals living in it. And on top of all of this, light pollution is one thing that effects almost all of us and there most likely won't be a solution anytime soon. There are lights all around us ruining our natural sleep cycles and causing us to stay awake longer during the night when our bodies are supposed to be asleep. And with many stores and restaurants that stay open past midnight in addition to our phones and other electronics, light pollution will continue to be a problem for years and years to come.
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Post by cameronshaffer on Aug 21, 2023 22:55:27 GMT -5
We have changed many aspects of life on this planet and those compared to the way described in "Our Vanishing Light" by Verlyn Klinkenborg are very similar. Even in recent times when we have had positive changes start to be noticed like lowering carbon emissions and waste there still is the point that without the original change that we made this wouldn't have been a problem. The good changes that we create stem from the bad changes we are responsible for. It is very much our responsibility to worry about the way we live and how it changes our planet because it is not only us here but we share the planet with tons of other creatures that don't have the level of control on their own that we do. Verlyn also writes about the impact that we have on other creatures that inhabit this planet with us just like the other changes we have caused with our industrialization taking habitats and our waste polluting lakes, oceans, and the air.
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Post by Lily Longtin on Aug 23, 2023 13:08:51 GMT -5
We have changed many things similar to what Klinkenborg discusses in "Our Vanishing Night," things like light pollution, water pollution, deforestation, and land pollution have all effected our planet tremendously. All of these forms have pollution have affected the environments and ecosystems that make up Earth. I believe it is our place to worry about the effect of the way we live because we are the cause of all these pollutions and bad effects on the environment. At the rate of deforestation, we are at right now in a hundred years all of the rainforests will be gone. Some people try to lessen to bad effects by recycling and cleaning up trash on the side of the road, cleaning out the plastic in the ocean but there's too much. I don't know how the world will be in a thousand years, but I think that if we keep living the way we are its going to continue to get worse, climates will change, and animals will go extinct.
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Post by stephanie1garcia on Aug 27, 2023 20:11:40 GMT -5
We have changed so many things that are similar to the things said in "Out Vanishing Night" By Verlyn Klinkenborg. First thing is the light pollution but also water pollution, land pollution, deforestation, and other stuff, all of these are causing climate change. I don't think we are changing things for the better yet, I think we are in the process of that, but it should be more enforced. I think it is our place to worry since we are the ones creating Earth for those in the future like our kids, grandchildren, and people that we will care for in the future. We are also not doing it in a good way since animals are going extinct due to the way we as humans want to live. If we can start to actually change things then the planet might look good in a 100 years, but as of right now it is looking like the planet will suffer through so much climate change, animal extinction, and deforestation.
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Post by Kelly Garcia on Aug 30, 2023 20:13:44 GMT -5
The changes compared to what is in the essay "Our Vanishing Night" By Verlyn Klinkenborg is somewhat the same. We have both the same problems that's going on on Earth but also making it worse like pollution still, deforestation, climate change, and more animals going extinct for these reasons. As a society we have not done our job very well to preserve our land, into not keeping it healthy for us and our animals for the reason being into making our society more beneficial for us and not worrying about how much it's hurting the quality of earth. For example, Climate change, due to human activities, has been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) which produces heat-trapping gasses. This affects the environment of all animals in where they live. The temperature could change where animals are and that would not be able to be suitable for them to survive.
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Post by rubydrzick on Aug 30, 2023 21:07:16 GMT -5
light pollution has definitely gotten worse in the last decade and it continues to get worse. many big city's struggle with light pollution and it can cause loads of problems for that cities residents. humans have changed the planet a lot weather it is from evolving and making out society some what better with technology and the consent change of trying to challenge and evolve ourselves as well as out planet there have been some major down falls from the successes of humans. some of the ways humans have had a horrible effect on the world is by creating a lot of land pollution as well as sky pollution. global warming has been a huge issue that just continues to get worse and worse as time goes on. humans have evolved and created huge inventions that has helped earth out a lot however there are also the fact that humans have made certain animals extinct due to not thinking. i think it is important for humans to understand where the future of the earth is going and start caring so we can make progressive changes.
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Post by Sasha on Aug 31, 2023 9:38:18 GMT -5
I think there are some more crucial things that we have done but I still think this has a negative impact. I know we have changed the shapes of light posts so that they only point down instead of pointing up and down. I think we should worry about the way we live considering that we are responsible for many things that make life less valuable, or healthy (like polluting the Earth). I think the planet will look incredibly unhealthy in 100-1000 years, maybe even to the point of needing healthy oxygen masks when going outside. I think deserts and droughts will spread all over the world causing uncomfortable and unhealthy living conditions.
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Post by JaNyiah Lawler on Sept 1, 2023 12:59:17 GMT -5
When I think of the ways that humans have changed the world over the course of history, the first thing that comes to mind is technology and its contribution to climate change. Light pollution has made nature go off course in certain ways, and climate change and global warming specifically has done that even more. More and more often we hear about devastating natural disasters in the news, and in those times I do not think we’ve changed the planet for the better. I think it is absolutely our place and our responsibility to worry about our effect on the planet, and it is our responsibility to try and reverse or at least remedy the things we’ve done. In 100 years, if we don’t act now, I think nature will turn against us even more than it already has, and it will become even more difficult for humans on this planet. In 1000 years I can’t even imagine what will have become of us.
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Post by Zelda Molitor on Sept 1, 2023 13:21:06 GMT -5
Other ways humans have changed things compares to the light pollution discussed in "Our Vanishing Night", because they all have in common that humans are trying to make improvements and in most cases are, however they all have a negative side, which in a lot of cases outweighs the positive impact. Some examples of this are air pollution, deforestation, and industrialization. All of these things have the intent of making life better for us as humans, however we don't take into account what these things do for animals, or other living things around us. In the experiment with light pollution humans think that having longer hours where the Earth is lit up, will create benefits, and while that might be true light pollution also disrupts the natural patterns of wildlife, and also ends up even disrupting humans when we sleep. Similarly, humans think making a ton of new buildings and creating new products will be beneficial, and while that may be true, it's also what causes deforestation and air pollution which disrupts animals habitats, and ruins the air the we along with other animals breath.
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Post by Zelda Molitor on Sept 1, 2023 14:19:40 GMT -5
Before even attempting research, I feel the effects of light pollution everyday. I am in an astronomy phase right now and I always try to look into the sky and look for certain shapes and moons, but rarely is the viewing experience ever perfect. I have to wait until it gets very dark out and sometimes I even have to travel to more rural areas. I completely understand the use of streetlamps as it pertains to pedestrian safety and would even vouch for more streetlamps. However, the thing that I will never understand is why businesses will leave all of their lights on overnight so it looks like they’re open 24/7. This form of light pollution can definitely be reduced and will need to be if we want a healthier planet in the future. The state of our planet is not looking good right now and little things can be done to help. I notice the same thing, that typically I can't see the stars when I just step outside of my house, because of light pollution. I think that it would be wonderful if I was able to step outside and see the stars and notice different shapes as well. I think that it would be good if as humans we could make decisions on what light is actually beneficial, and what might not be benefiting us as much as it is affecting us and other forms of life in a negative way. I think that doing this and figuring out our priorities, will give us as humans benefits such as being able to enjoy looking at the stars, and also being able to sleep without light pollution getting in the way. As well as benefiting other forms of life as reducing light pollution will help restore the natural patterns of wildlife that have been messed with.
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Post by Nevin on Sept 1, 2023 20:34:25 GMT -5
Humans on Earth have created a lot of problems like pollution and extinction of other animals. Pollution like light pollution include air pollution, water pollution, ground pollution. As humans have became more and more developed it seems like we create more and more of a negative impact on this planet. Our carbon emissions increase, our pollution levels increase, we deforest more , we kill more animals, destroy more habitats every day exponentially. As far as changing things for the better humans really have only improved their comfortably of their own lives, all the "good" we have done has been to fix the bad we already had started, so in the end humans have always had a negative impact on the planet. In a hundred years I think the planet will look nothing like it does today, I believe that nothing will change or by the time humans start changing it is already too late. So in those hundred years we will be in emergency mode but it won't matter because it will be too late. We are captivated too much by the economic benefits of ruining the world around us to change.
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cavan
New Member
Posts: 10
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Post by cavan on Sept 1, 2023 20:51:01 GMT -5
In real life and the essay "Our Vanishing Night" by Verlyn Klinkenborg, we have replied to many of these problems similarly. A big one for example, global warming. This is a cause of our own existence, but not just us living, the way we live. We are ruining our planet, our home that we live on. We are trying to change, by using less fossil fuels, using more electric, and natural energy based products, but since everyone isn't on board it isn't really helping. It is 100% our place to worry about the effect of the way we live, we have to be selfless and look out for the future generations, they are the ones that ave to deal with our selfish decisions, because in 100 years Earth will be deteriorating, and in 1000? Gone.
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