Episode 177

[FOCUS] Lights And Circadian Rhythm

Episode Summary: This segment is from a longer episode in which Kristina shares with Jenn, Leekei and Brian some insights about how lights influence our circadian rhythm and nature in general

Lights are everywhere, yet we don’t often discuss their impact on humans, society, and both the natural and built environments.

In the full conversation, we discuss:

  • The differences between natural and artificial lights.
  • The influence of light on our circadian rhythms.
  • How to use and position appropriate lighting in various settings.
  • How lights can affect trees, birds, and insects.

For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac, visit thecarbonalmanac.org

Want to join in the conversation?

Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives.

Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Jenn Swanson, Leekei Tang, Kristina Horning and Brian Tormey

From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and Community Connector, helping people help themselves.  

Leekei is a fashion business founder, a business coach, an international development expert and podcaster from Paris, France. 

Brian is a Real Estate Title Insurance Professional and Goat Farmer in the US.

Kristina is working on design theory and using design process in everything. With a background in architecture, civil engineering and education, she loves research, play and co-creating. Currently in Prague (that it is where she is originally from) and her base is US

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

Transcript
Speaker:

So also plants react to the lights.

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Uh, when you have, uh, street light

next to the tree, you can see the.

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branches next to the light.

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Sometimes dry.

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The leafs go stay green, where the other

part of the tree ha leaves fall off On

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that little piece of the tree, part of

the tree, the, uh, leafs stay green and

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then they fall off in the wrong time.

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So, uh, the tree, a lot of trees also have

problems and plants with, uh, artificial.

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, which I never thought it's possible,

but do, do you know the reason why

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the, the, the leaves fall up when

they are close to artificial lights?

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Because they, the light they have, they

must have some kind of light receptors

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and they think it's a day, so they're,

they react to the length of the day.

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So instead of having shorter and

shorter days before the fall, , and

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that's the trigger that the leaves

will fall and the side goes down.

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They don't have that information.

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So, uh, they, they think still

it's, uh, summer and then, uh,

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and then everything freezes.

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So the sap freezes and the

branches become brittle.

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And, uh, there are problems falling

out for the whole tree weakening.

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I was just gonna ask, so do you

know, uh, I know that here where

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I am, a lot of people like to put

those solar lights in their gardens.

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Um, they absorb the sun in the day

and then they light up the path, or

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they light up the garden in the night.

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Mm-hmm.

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. Mm-hmm.

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. Um, so is that not a good idea then for

the plants that are around that light?

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Uh, yeah.

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, even gardeners, uh, the professional

gardeners know about it because

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in nurseries they now are figuring

out which plants can stand the

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nightlight more than the other plants.

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So they pick different plants for,

uh, these places where there is

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a lot of, uh, artificial reli.

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Yeah, it's, uh, it's a problem.

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, the biggest problem is for trees because

they, uh, they get damaged by the light.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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It's, uh, not only light cause a

lot of, uh, we have to use a lot of

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energy to keep them litted, but, uh,

it really creates havoc on animals and

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people and nature, even for the birds.

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Uh, when there are these, uh, Big

laser beams going up to the sky for

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advertisement and all that stuff.

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The birds navigate.

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Also.

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The moon is their, the

point they navigate around.

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So if there is this strong

light, they get confused and.

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, they start circling that, uh, light

and, uh, and a lot of them, I, I think

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I heard there was, in New York, it was

a lot of dead birds when they had the

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laser lights in, uh, for after nine 11.

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So they had to turn them down.

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Wow.

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So that's, and the last one, which

for me was the most disturbing,

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was about, um, , that insect gets

confused and a lot of insect diets

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and then the birds don't have food.

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And, uh, the cycle is broken.

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So it's, uh, it's sad and I'm hoping

that people will start paying attention,

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more attention to light now, not only

because of energetic, uh, usage, but use

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of energy, but also how it influences.

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And at Christmas, of course, at least

here, everyone's got extra light up.

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Yeah.

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For Christmas.

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Everywhere.

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. Yeah.

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Oh, my friend, um, uh, she's a chron

biologist and she was saying, yeah, no

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wonder everybody is angry and frustrated

because all the lights, they, they, their

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circadian riddens are all off . Wow.

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And here I thought it was

the cookies the egg knock

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So, uh, research has been

done for a long time.

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I think from fifties.

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They started, uh, research

in the chronobiology and, and

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influences and people in nature,

and we don't hear much about it.

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off.

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I know there are two organizations.

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One is Daylight Academy and

the other one is International

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Dark, dark Sky Association.

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And so those two talk about these

problems and how, what's going on.

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if anybody's interested.

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,

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