A little more than 100 years ago we could walk outside at night even in a city and see thousands of stars. Nowadays by allowing artificial lights to wash out our starry night skies we are losing this opportunity that has become a privilege. Light pollution has many other consequences: it interferes with astronomical research,  disrupts ecosystems, has negative effects on health and wastes energy.

But which are the cities with the highest levels of light pollution?

​

This data visualization project highlights the different night light emission values of 346 major.  City center emission data comes from the day/night band of the VIIRS DNB (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) satellite instrument.
These data have been reconverted into geometries that faithfully reflect their value through size and color.
The different cities have been geolocated through their respective coordinates and radial lines emerge from each. 

The size of each group of elements is directly proportional to light emission values. Colors - from red to blue - represents values ranges from higher (red> 300) or lower (blue <50) light emission.

​

Source: Lighttrends.lightpollutionmap.info

Reference year 2020

​

​