Desde el espacio, astronautas ayudan a controlar la contaminación lumínica en la Tierra
By Manuel Crespo Feliciano, Accuweather en Español staff writer
February 21, 2019, 12:09:09 PM EST
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Una nueva técnica que utiliza las fotografías tomadas por los astronautas a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional, promete ser la nueva herramienta de los cientificos para combatir y estudiar la contaminación lumínica.
La NASA mantiene una base de datos pública con más de 1.3 millones de fotografías en color tomadas por astronautas en los últimos 15 años. Con esta informacion, investigadores en Europa desarrollaron un método para extraer y calibrar los datos espectrales incluidos en cada foto, y utilizar los datos para medir el impacto ambiental de la contaminación lumínica.
"Esperamos llevar la fotografía de la Estación Espacial a un nuevo nivel", sostuvo Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel, investigador de la Universidad de Exeter, en un comunicado de prensa.
Como numerosos estudios han demostrado, la luz artificial puede alterar los patrones de comportamiento de los animales nocturnos.
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La contaminación lumínica también influye en el comportamiento de las especies diurnas que comienzan su día justo antes del amanecer. La luz artificial hace que las aves vuelen hacia los peligrosos horizontes urbanos y que los peces actúen de forma más audaz en aguas abiertas.
Además, un exceso de luz artificial nocturna puede suprimir la producción de melatonina e impactar negativamente en los patrones de sueño humano, así como drenar los recursos energéticos.
"No se trata solo de poder ver las estrellas", dijo Sánchez de Miguel. "Todas las criaturas vivas en nuestro planeta, incluidos nosotros, los humanos, sufrimos de iluminación nocturna artificial. Y solo los humanos que viven en el planeta Tierra pueden minimizar los efectos".
Cálculos adicionales permitieron a los científicos estimar cómo los diferentes colores y niveles de luz artificial suprimen los niveles de melatonina y dificultan la observación de estrellas.
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