Britain is DIMMING: NASA reveals how night lights are changing

NASA mapping shows night lights across the globe are changing unevenly, with large parts of the UK fading into darkness. Between 2014 and 2022, the UK became 22% darker at night, making it the second fastest dimming nation in Europe behind France at 33% less bright evenings. NASA attributes the trend mainly to widespread technological shifts, including the move toward energy-efficient LED lighting. Rapid dimming also occurred during major events such as COVID-19 lockdowns and the energy shock after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Local and national efforts to reduce light pollution also contributed. NASA used sensors in orbit and a new algorithm to analyze 1.16 million daily images, revealing that some regions brighten, others darken, and some fluctuate over time.

"Between 2014 and 2022, the UK has grown 22 per cent darker at night. That makes Britain the second fastest dimming nation in Europe, just behind France, where the evenings are now 33 per cent less bright. NASA says that this trend is mainly being driven by widespread technological shifts, such as the move towards energy-efficient LED lights. The space agency also saw rapid periods of dimming during major events such as the COVID-19 lockdowns and the energy shock following Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

"However, concerted efforts to reduce light pollution at the local and national level have also played a critical role. The news comes after a Suffolk hamlet became the first place in England to be recognised as an International Dark Sky Community - marking it one of the darkest places on Earth. Until very recently, the assumption among researchers was that the world was getting brighter all the time as economic development and population growth expanded."

"The agency used fridge-sized sensors orbiting Earth at 16,000 miles per hour (25,740 km/h) that can pick out the light from a single tollbooth on a dark road. Using a new algorithm, they compiled 1.16 million images taken by these sensors at 01:30 local time every day for almost a decade. This showed that, although some parts of Earth are getting brighter, many others are fading into darkness, while some change back and forth over time."

"Co-author Dr Zhe Zhu, of the University of Connecticut, says that tracking these dips and flares is 'like watching the heartbeat of the planet'. Globally, areas that did get lighter over time created a brightness increase equivalent to 34 per cent of"

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