Back to the Night: The Case for Dark Skies

EVENT DESCRIPTION: For billions of years, night on this planet was lit only by the moon and stars, and life evolved under regular cycles of bright days and dark nights. All that has changed in the last 130 years, and night on Earth is now liberally colonized with artificial light. The overabundance of light at night has dire ecological consequences for plants, birds, fish, amphibians and other wildlife, as well as for human health, safety and culture.

At this Science on Tap we will delve into the importance of darkness for nocturnal wildlife as well as for the billions of migrating birds that use starry night skies to navigate. We will explore some of the night’s wondrous mysteries, the world class dark skies that we have in southeastern Oregon, and the local and international effort to preserve dark skies in both cities and wild places.

Mary Coolidge https://audubonportland.org/about-us/our-staff/ is Audubon’s BirdSafe Campaign Coordinator, working with architects, planners, designers and residents to reduce hazards for birds in the urban environment while meeting other design, building performance and climate change objectives. Mary is dedicated to improving efforts to make urban environments more hospitable to wildlife and helping
connect people to nature and place. Mary splits her time between Portland Audubon and the California Condor breeding program.

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Written questions during the event are welcome!

TWO WAYS TO WATCH LIVE:

• Watch the high quality version on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_r-VXny5xQJqfDdRNxu7W7g

• If the Zoom webinar is full or if you prefer, visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ScienceOnTapORWA/ at 7pm on Thursday for the Facebook live show (refresh until you see the video post)

COST: Free, with a $5 suggested donation

Make a one-time donation to Make You Think, Inc:
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WATCH LATER: The event will be recorded and available to watch online later on our Facebook videos page https://www.facebook.com/pg/ScienceOnTapORWA/videos/ and YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/ScienceonTapORWA/