As coastal areas become increasingly developed, concerns are growing about levels of artificial light at night (ALAN) and its potential impacts on the marine environment. In order to gauge artificial light in marine systems, the study used the light sensitivity of copepods (a type of microscopic crustacean) as a metric to determine the depth of light penetration. advertisementSetting light levels by how detectable they are to marine organisms is key, considering the possible impacts of ALAN pollution on the creatures that live in the sea. However, light from coastal developments can scatter a long way out to sea and is spectrally quite different to moon and sunlight. The study is part of ongoing research into the effects of artificial light on the marine environment, conducted as part of the Artificial Light Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems (ALICE) project.

Source: Ethiopian News December 14, 2021 22:59 UTC