Publication: L.A. Times

UCLA Expert: Travis Longcore: Associate Adjunct Professor, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Co-Chair of the Environmental Science and Engineering Program, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Synopsis: An unintended byproduct of using fewer fossil fuels? Light pollution. Artificial lighting from LED lights causes the night sky in Los Angeles to shine one and a half times brighter than a night lit by a full moon, which affects all city creatures.

UCLA News: “There are many, many species who don’t go out and forage during the full moon because it’s too bright and they know they’re going to be vulnerable to predators,” he said. The survival of wild species depends on the variabilities of the natural world — day and night, seasons, the lunar cycle. Take them away, Longcore said, and you inevitably start alienating species from their natural habitats.

Read more at L.A. Times.