Light Pollution

Vocabulary

Pollution: something entering the environment that is harmful or poisonous

The air pollution in Beijing, China, was very bad, but is now improving.

Suburb: a residential area on the edge of a town or city

The suburb where I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is 10 kilometres from the beach.

Billboard: a large outdoor board used for advertising

In Tokyo, Japan there are many billboards advertising the Olympic Games.

Skyscraper: a very tall building

In the business district in Munich, Germany, there are many skyscrapers. Some have more than 50 floors.

Broadcast tower:  a tall tower used for cell phone, TV and radio transmissions

There is a broadcast tower near my home, Frankfurt in Germany.

Fossil fuels: natural fuels such as coal, petrol and gas formed millions of years ago from living things such as plants and trees.

My friend, Bernado, says most cars in Brazil use petrol or diesel, but there is a move away from using fossil fuels in favour of electric cars.

Smoke: a cloudy mass of particles that rises from a fire or something that is burning

My Japanese friend says he doesn’t like the smell of cigarette smoke.

Light fixtures: part of a light that is fixed to the wall or ceiling, often containing an on/off switch

All the light fixtures in my study were made in China.

Read the following article then answer the questions.

Light pollution has become a problem over the past 50 years. (Light pollution is artificial light that shines where it is not supposed to shine.) For example, in some suburbs, shopping mall car parks are so bright only 10% of all stars can be seen at night. Even fewer stars can be seen from the centre of most large cities. In almost every town, big and small, street lights, billboards, shopping centres, private houses and tall buildings give out so much light the sky at night cannot be seen.

Light pollution also affects animals as well as people. For example, in Florida in the USA when turtles are first born then often move inland towards the bright beach lights instead of heading towards the ocean, which is only lit by moonlight. Migrating birds – birds that are moving from place to place – also become confused by lights on skyscrapers, broadcast towers and lighthouses. When this happens they can get lost and injure themselves. And light pollution also harms the environment too. This is because most of the world’s electricity power stations still burn fossil fuels - oil, coal or gas – sending tons of smoke into the atmosphere. In other words, more light means more air pollution.

So what can be done? Bright lights which require a lot of electricity can be replaced by lights that require much less electricity. Also some lights which are unnecessary can be removed. Replacing old bulbs and light fixtures with modern, more efficient ones can make a big difference too in preserving the night sky. And, of course, you can always switch off the lights when you leave a room

Questions

1. What is 'light pollution'?

2. According to the article, only about 10% of stars can be seen from...

3. Newly hatched turtles in Florida move towards beach lights because...

4. More light means more air pollution because...

5. What word in paragraph 1 means 'manufactured' or 'produced using machinery'? 

6. What does the word ‘migrating’ (paragraph 2) mean?

Answers

1. Artificial light that shines where it should not shine.

2.  Shopping mall car parks

3.  The beach lights are very bright.

4.  Most electricity power stations burn fossil fuels to create electricity.

5.  Artificial

6.  Moving from place to place