Scientists have produced a first-of-its-kind assessment showing the coastal regions of Europe which they believe are at greatest risk from harmful light pollution.
The research set out to establish a means by which to assess whether a region is of Good Environmental Status (GES) when it comes to the risks posed to it by artificial light at night, otherwise known as ALAN.
With no defined criteria of GES currently in existence for ALAN in European waters, the study team developed a new system which takes into account the light pollution being emitted by coastal towns and cities as well as the clarity of the sea water in particular locations and how easily light can penetrate through the water column.
They then used existing data, including information previously published in a global atlas of nighttime light pollution, to highlight the European waters at greatest and least risk of harm.
It found that enclosed regions, bordered by land on several sides, tended to be where the risk of exposure to harmful light pollution was at its highest, with the Adriatic Sea, Baltic Sea and western Mediterranean Sea being the most impacted European waters.
At the other end of the scale are more open areas of water such as Macaronesia (a region that includes the Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde), the Barents Sea and the Iceland Sea.
The waters around the UK, the Greater North Sea and the Celtic Seas, are largely characterised as being of medium to low risk. However, the North Sea's oil and gas fields - and the infrastructure associated with them - did add significant levels of light pollution to what would otherwise be an open ocean setting.
Their research comes at a time when the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), introduced in 2008 to protect the marine ecosystem and biodiversity, is being reviewed. The authors hope their work, and the evidence it is based on, will ensure the impacts of ALAN are fully reflected in any future legislation.
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