Noise Pollution And Light Pollution

2855 Words12 Pages
Protection of biodiversity has been the number one focus in conservation; consequently, many studies have been conducted to pinpoint major threats to biodiversity (Sutherland et al. 2010; Lyytimäki 2013). Not only the most considered threats such as invasive species, habitat loss and so forth are problematic but an alarmingly growing threat is of light and noise pollution as it interferes with the natural clock that the organisms (more especially nocturnal) have been accustomed to and consequently altering ecological functioning (Miller 2006; Hölker et al. 2010; Da Silva et al. 2014). Therefore, it is important to acknowledge that not only light pollution is a negative factor in urban habitats; noise pollution also has a significant role in reproductive success of urban dwelling birds (Francis et al. 2009; Parris & Schneider 2009). According to Gallaway et al. (2010), there is no specific definition of light pollution; but it is generally referred to as excessive illumination of the night sky by man-made features such as street lights as well as natural sources such as airglow. Light pollution is not only detrimental to biodiversity but as well as humans, it wastes energy and a major contributor to greenhouse gases emissions (Gallaway et al. 2010). Noise pollution from traffic and industries affect fauna in both terrestrial (e.g. birds) and aquatic (e.g. whales) environments (Siemers & Schaub 2011). Noise alone can disturb species interactions and possibly indirectly