Sunday Speaker Series "Dark Skies" Register

Date and Time:
Sun, Nov 15, 2026; 7:00 PM (Central)

Add to Calendar Sunday Speaker Series "Dark Skies"

At every moment, half the world is at night. In a little more than a century, our uncontrolled use of light has upended the nighttime environment on Earth. How does this impact the world? We'll take a journey guided by what recent research has revealed about our use of excessive light at night: from human health to ecosystems, from climate change to our loss of the starry skies, and more. We'll discover simple solutions that make light pollution the easiest environmental challenge to solve and how you can help restore the night. Ken Walczak from Dark Skies International will present an exciting program focusing on this pervasive issue. Join us on Sunday November 15, 2026 at 7:00 pm CT.

Illinois

Webinar URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84060647795?pwd=xXNfbj0e3SYlquAglYqwKA5HqSuP3L.1

Linda Tilton lt@thetiltons.net MM/DD/yyyy amOUuwqNAzpGSXwtHmnd12740

Organized By: Woods and Wetlands Group

Location: Virtual

Event Organizers:
Linda Tilton
lt@thetiltons.net
Douglas Ower
doug.ower@gmail.com

Woods & Wetlands is delighted to present Ken Walczak of Dark Skies International on Sunday November 15 at our Sunday Speaker Series.

In human history, our ancestors experienced a night time sky brimming with stars! The dark skies were the source of myths, legends and navigation and inspired science, religion, philosophy, art, and literature. On a summer canoe trip in Canada at Quetico Provincial Park, the dark skies we have lost miraculously became visible to me. Those Canadian dark skies were instrumental in bringing this November Speaker Series to you.

To begin, consider the effects of light pollution. It is the human-made modification of outdoor light levels from those occurring naturally. Artificial light impacts wildlife, human quality of life, wastes natural resources and energy and contributes to climate change. Needless to say, light pollution blocks our view of the Universe.

For billions of years, life on Earth has relied on the predictable rhythms of day and night. Earth’s plants and animals have evolved with this rhythm encoded in their DNA. We humans have radically disrupted the natural cycle by lighting up the night

Plants and animals depend on Earth’s daily cycle of light and dark to govern life-sustaining behaviors such as reproduction, nourishment, sleep, and protection from predators. Current scientific research suggests that artificial light (light pollution) at night has negative and deadly effects on many creatures, including amphibians, birds, mammals, insects, and plants.

Humans have also been impacted by light pollution. Some scientists believe the body’s production of melatonin; a natural sleep hormone, is confused by light pollution which may upset our normal sleep/wake cycles.

According to Dark Skies International in an average year in the U.S, outdoor lighting uses about 120 terawatt-hours of energy, mostly to illuminate streets and parking lots. That’s enough energy to meet New York City’s total electricity needs for two years! It is estimates that least 30 percent of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. alone is wasted, mostly by lights that aren’t correctly shielded. That adds up to $3.3 billion and the release of 21 million tons of carbon dioxide per year! To offset all that carbon dioxide, we’d have to plant 875 million trees annually.

Please register on Woods & Wetlands and join us to hear Ken Walczak share information about Dark Skies International on November 15, 2026.

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