By Amber Gielen
Sources of light have been instrumental throughout history for marking the success and evolution of humanity. We began 250,000 years ago, learning methods to control fire. From oil lamps to modern candles, we kept iterating and refining, trying to make our world brighter, more efficient, and more accessible. The invention of the electric incandescent light in the 1880’s marked the start of the evolution of modern artificial lighting, with our current L.E.D lights recently obsolescing fluorescent lamps due to their higher energy efficiency and longer lifespan. These lights come in all shapes, sizes, colours and designs. They are in every home, shop, and office. Modern society is built around artificial lighting, but, how have these innovations changed and shaped our world?
Artificial light, especially at night, is more impactful to the environment than one might imagine. The impact comes twofold, first in the energy consumption that sustains our need for electricity, and second in the disruption of natural environments by light pollution. Artificial light sources are responsible for the consumption of approximately 20% of global electricity production, production totalling in 617 exajoules, which of course,,is responsible for significant fossil fuel consumption. While the design of L.E.D lighting is a significant improvement on its fluorescent predecessor in terms of energy efficiency at a remarkable 80% more efficient, this still leaves a portion of ‘waste energy’ that isn’t converted to light. In addition to the energy consumption of electric lighting, light pollution has been shown to wreak havoc on the circadian rhythms and navigational systems of plants and animals within our ecosystems. From firefly signals being disrupted by competing lights, to migratory birds being drawn off path by city lighting, and newly hatched sea turtles becoming disoriented as they take their first steps toward the ocean, the effects of light pollution caused by artificial lighting is widespread. The area that is disturbedby light pollution is growing due to urban sprawl, L.E.D billboards, and city light scapes, with the night sky becoming 10% lighter each year, devastating an increasing number of flora and fauna.
Our modern economy is intrinsically linked to artificial lighting. We rely on the extended “useful” hours in the day to consume and produce extraordinary amounts of products and services. Due to the constant illumination provided by artificial lighting, opening hours have extended and nocturnal production, consumption, and trade add economic value due to their ability to utilize infrastructure for longer, thus more efficiently. One such industry is agriculture; using L.E.D. illumination to stimulate constant growth in crops. Greenhouses can yield high quality crops cost efficiently and on an accelerated timeline; boosting profits and increasing food production to fuel more economic productivity, not to mention positive social outcomes in relation to food scarcity. This extension of useful time is not only the result of static lighting such as streetlights and indoor lighting, but also mobile lighting including headlights allowing for the constant transportation of goods across the world. This constant access to goods and services leads us to adopt an ‘anything anytime anywhere’ attitude, with food, clothes and groceries delivered to our doors well into the night.
An additional facet of artificial lightings’ impact on the economy is its use in advertising. “In 2020 there were an estimated 343,000 billboards in the United States alone” say Gaston and Sánchez de Miguel. These factors all contribute to increasing pressure to produce and consume at faster and faster rates. Not only has artificial lighting enabled us to become a 24-hour society, but the hours we are expected to work increase to cope with the amount we are expected to spend and consume, purely because we are able to. We are always available. The consequence of artificial light in the context of the economy is astoundingly positive; we reap the benefits of more productive hours in a day and see our economy grow because of it. However, a booming economy is not always a sign of a happy and healthy society.
As a society, artificial lighting plays a number of roles in our behaviour, health, and wellbeing. According to Pottharst and Könecke, “artificial lighting is both a precondition and a consequence of the 24-hour society.”On a societal level, our increased visibility helps us feel safer, with witnesses more likely to spot criminals and be able to identify and apprehend them later, as well as an overall increased awareness of our surrounding to put us at ease. We use artificial lighting to make more use of the night,for working, socializing, and wayfinding. It allows for flexible working hours and long commutes. We even use it as decoration. ‘Mood lighting’ is set in our homes, restaurants, and bars, creating illuminated artwork. We gaze in awe at our city skylines at night, like we once used to look at stars that are no longer visible. This of course has evolved and is become more common since modern electric lighting has obsolesced forms of lighting that required more maintenance. However, as said by Falchi & Bará, “it is like admiring the beauty of the rainbow colours that gasoline produces in water and not recognising that it is chemical pollution.”
A byproduct of our society’s reliance on artificial lighting is now evident in studies that have shown the disruptions to our circadian rhythms, just like the impact this lighting has on our natural environment. Exposure to artificial lighting has been linked to depression and insomnia, which may be a design flaw of the lighting itself. Our modern fluorescents and L.E.Ds emit light with shorted wavelengths; blue light, the same light provided by the sun. This wavelength of light is what keeps our circadian rhythm synchronised with the world around us, not just affecting sleep, but all of the psychological and biological systems in our body.
The impact of artificial lighting is multifaceted; its ramifications can be felt throughout our modern society, the economy that drives it, and the environment that surrounds it. On the surface, artificial lighting is astoundingly beneficial to us, having helped drive our economy, pushing us to create the wonders we enjoy as ‘modern life’. Our culture of ‘anything anytime anywhere’ is facilitated by the blur between the useful hours of the day into the night. The caveat to this of course is that the constant production and consumption of goods driving the economy leads to the constant pressure to be productive and available. Our beautiful city light scapes, extended office hours, and safety we feel from streetlights take up an immense amount of the world’s energy consumption, disrupt ecosystems, and even wreak havoc on our own biological processes. People’s lives are simultaneously more convenient and more stressful than ever.
References
Falchi, F., & Bará, S. (2023). Light pollution is skyrocketing. Science, 379(6629), 234–235. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf4952
Gaston, K. J., & Sánchez de Miguel, A. (2022). Environmental Impacts of Artificial Light at Night. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 47(1), 373–398. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112420-014438.
Pottharst, M., & Könecke, B. (2013). The Night and Its Loss. Space–Time Design of the Public City, 15, 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6425-5_3
This piece was featured in the 2026 summer edition of Glass Magazine
