So after watching the Persieds last night from our sky balcony, a disturbing thought has come to mind. Science has recently shown that modern humans suffer from a number of vitamin deficiencies due our evolution being under very different circumstances than much of recorded history. Like Vitamin D. Many humans are mildly deficient because we spent many thousands of years evolving mostly outside and with far less clothing.

But what about the effects of Star Light Deficiencies? The human brain and psyche spent many millions of years staring up at the night sky and being astounded by what they saw. If you have never seen the Milky Way, then you wouldn't know. It can knock your socks off! You can read by starlight, and see shadows from the glow of our neighboring planets. Look at this picture and think about seeing that every night.



My night sky is partially there. Dark Sky is rated on the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale. On a scale of 1-10, a totally unpolluted sky, the skies of our ancestors, is a 1. Our area, like many rural ones, is a sliding between 3-4. We can see much of the Milky Way and nebulae. However, it is now estimated, that there are no truly 1 class skies in the continental United States. None in Europe, and fewer every day in Asia. So unless you go to the Australian Outback, the Arctic North, the Saharan Africa, or deep into the ocean, you cannot see the wonders we evolved with. Only, even then, it is still not quite there. The cumulative effects of world wide lighting and particulates of air pollution lead to a global phenomenon of mild light pollution. Like our aerosols sprays and our pesticides, mankind's touch has reached to the farthest corners of the globe, and made it, a little less.

"I hear that it is an imperfect copy that I possess and have read, that my ancestors have torn out many of the first leaves and grandest passages, and mutilated it in many places. I should not like to think that some demigod had come before me and picked out some of the best of the stars. I wish to know an entire heaven and an entire earth."
- From the journal of Henry David Thoreau, March 23, 1856.

So how are we affected psychologically by this? How do we suffer from the toxic effects of light pollution. We know pollution is bad for us. Many folks who would not casually throw there trash on the ground, or dump there motor oil into the rivers, would easily put up, "Just another light". Look at these two pictures.



The one on the left was taken under "normal" conditions. The one on the right, during a blackout. Wow. That is just overhead. Any night you want, just step outside and look up. Unless, well, you see what I mean.

This picture, and several other interesting facts about light pollution and folks responses to seeing the night sky for the first time, can be found here: http://www.physics.fau.edu/observatory/lightpol-astro.html and you can learn more about lighting, and the movements to preserve our dark skies at http://www.darksky.org/ They have resources and how avoid purchasing "glare bombs" of lighting.

So I ask once again, are we sickened from a deficiency of wonder when we cannot see the night sky? Do we suffer from a paucity of astonishment? How is it that we are starting to understand that children suffer nature deficit disorder, yet we so casual ignore what could be called "Stellar Deficit Disorder". Ask yourself this, can you find the North Star? Would your children know what that "vast silvery cloud" was if they saw it? Do they know that they are stardust?

I believe I have added a criteria to my list of acceptable living conditions. I must have community. I must have clean, healthy organic food. I must have clean water, bird calls, and trees. I must have clear skies.

I shall follow the road home....