It’s International Dark Sky Week (April 13-20 2026) and therefore the perfect opportunity for me to introduce a new project that will run throughout 2026: Night Law. This project aims to generate a multidisciplinary and collaborative conversation, while also producing interesting and thought-provoking material (with policy- and education-oriented foci), on the themes of the night and of darkness, our relationship to it, and attempts to suppress, regulate, govern, and control it.
Night Law, funded by an Arts & Humanities Research Council Impact Accelerator Account, begins as a collaboration between with the wonderful people at ATLA.
The first major why of Night Law is the question of light pollution.
Light Pollution and Ontological Disconnection
An important doorway into to core themes and questions of Night Law is the significant but deeply underappreciated issue of light pollution. As a starting point, take the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair’s (DEFRA), definition of light pollution as the “incorrect” use of artificial light – which can cause “annoyance” to people, harm to wildlife, waste, and “detract from the enjoyment of the night sky” – and as synonymous with “obtrusive light”, i.e. “light shining where it is not intended or wanted.”
I won’t wade into definitional waters too deeply for now – and it is a significant question whether this is really the most appropriate definition – but one of the unique things about light pollution as a phenomena is the extent to which its effects are particularly pronounced at night. So much so, that some argue that night pollution is a more suitable term.
Light pollution is a curious phenomenon.
On the one hand, evidence suggests it is growing and intensifying. Undoubtedly, Thomas Edison’s 1879 demonstration of filament light bulbs – which we can take as a historical marker of the inauguration of the age of electric light – was crucial. Today, the image of an electrically-lit globe is the clearest visible evidence of our presence: the dark side of the Earth, seen from space, sparkles. But the 2000s and the roll-out and wide adoption of solid-state light-emitting diode (LEDs) technologies have upped the ante. Some research has suggested that in the 25 years between 1992 to 2017 light emissions have increased by at least 49%. Research based on citizen scientist reporting indicates that between 2011 to 2022 – a period which saw a rapid increase in the mass shift towards LEDs for indoor and outdoor lighting – ‘the average night sky got brighter by 9.6% per year […] equivalent to doubling the sky brightness every 8 years.’ Research that come out just a few days ago shows the dynamic nature of these changes: rather than a simple linear trajectory of growing illumination, we have a patchwork with some areas experiencing dimming and others greater brightness, but still overall a net increase in global nighttime light by 16% between 2014 and 2022.
On the other hand, if our skies are getting brighter and brighter, then why aren’t more of us noticing? Astronomers were of course among the first humans to do so: ten years ago we were told that the Milky Way was no longer visible to one-third of humanity. But how many of us, really, would guess that our night skies are doubling in brightness every 8 years? Or even something close to that?
Artificial light at night visibilises that which it touches, but invisibilises the night-sky, contributing to a profound ontological disconnection from our planetary rhythm of light and dark as well as from our cosmic situatedness.
Over the course of 2026, Night Law will be exploring various dimensions of this ongoing disconnection, seeking pathways and creative approaches to exploring what kind of a future there might be for the night and our relationship with darkness. Stay tuned for more updates on who is involved and what we’ve got planned.