Two-Thirds of Kansas State Parks Have Moderate to Severe Light Pollution Problems

Kansas City, MO, August 30, 2007 --(PR.com)-- MCROL, Midwest Citizens for Responsible Outdoor Lighting, operated by Robert Wagner of Kansas City, Missouri has posted the results of light pollution’s effects upon Kansas state parks. The study shows two-thirds of the Kansas state parks analyzed have moderate to severe light pollution problems. In addition, over 40% are listed in the severe category.

Kansas fared worse than the study of 149 Class 1 Federal Areas that showed over half have moderate to severe light pollution problems. Kansas performed better than Missouri in a similar study showing Missouri had 95% of its state parks and class 1 areas in the moderate to severe categories.

With light pollution increasing at a rate of 5%-10% annually, it is expected that the current problem is far more severe. The National Park Service has mentioned, “Two–thirds of Americans cannot see the Milky Way from their backyard, and 99% of the population live in an area that scientists consider light polluted. The rate at which light pollution is increasing will leave almost no dark skies in the contiguous US by 2025.”

This study combined a 1997 light pollution overlay with Google Earth to create visual maps of each site. The light pollution overlay was furnished by: P. Cinzano, F. Falchi (University of Padova), C. D. Elvidge (NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder). Copyright Royal Astronomical Society. Reproduced from the Monthly Notices of the RAS by permission of Blackwell Science.

For more information visit:
http://www.trianglealumni.org/mcrol/ks.html
http://www.trianglealumni.org/mcrol/mo.html
http://www.trianglealumni.org/mcrol/class1.html
http://www.trianglealumni.org/mcrol/
http://www.lightpollution.it/worldatlas/pages/fig1.htm
http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/lightscapes/

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