摘要：Although the invention and widespread use of artificial light is clearly one of the mostimportant human technological advances, the transformation of nightscapes is increasingly recognized ashaving adverse effects. Night lighting may have serious physiological consequences for humans, ecologicaland evolutionary implications for animal and plant populations, and may reshape entire ecosystems.However, knowledge on the adverse effects of light pollution is vague. In response to climate change andenergy shortages, many countries, regions, and communities are developing new lighting programs andconcepts with a strong focus on energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. Given the dramaticincrease in artificial light at night (0 - 20% per year, depending on geographic region), we see an urgentneed for light pollution policies that go beyond energy efficiency to include human well-being, the structureand functioning of ecosystems, and inter-related socioeconomic consequences. Such a policy shift willrequire a sound transdisciplinary understanding of the significance of the night, and its loss, for humansand the natural systems upon which we depend. Knowledge is also urgently needed on suitable lightingtechnologies and concepts which are ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable. Unless managingdarkness becomes an integral part of future conservation and lighting policies, modern society may runinto a global self-experiment with unpredictable outcomes
