Beautiful Light or Dangerous Plight

Shown above is a photo that was entered in The World at Night's annual "Earth and Sky" photography contest. While most people would admire the contrasting illuminating lights with the deep blue night sky, there  is definitely something more important that should be noticed: look at all that light pollution. When you are in a major city like this one shown in Austria, from the city itself, you are unable to perceive all of the light pollution around due to its limited visibility. However, as clearly shown, giving yourself just a little bit of distance allows you to view things in a whole new way, perhaps not always as we would expect. Some people  want to know why they cannot see the stars when the look up at the night sky, and this is the reason. We have a habit of using lights in ways that are unnecessary, like brightening up the sky when the purpose should be to light up the ground.

This is exactly what this photography competition is trying to bring awareness too. There is so much beauty in the night sky, but due to the pollution, we are missing out on some of the greatest natural aspects of the world. If you guys have time, I would encourage you to look at the slideshow provided in the link below to see what other beautiful (and shocking) photos were entered into the contest.

(Source)