Monday, September 12, 2011

A Dwindling Twinkle

As my plane was descending down
into the greater New York area this past Thursday night,
I was struck by how beautiful all the glimmering lights of Queens looked from above.
The grid of gold and white lights of the borough looked like little diamonds from the sky.
'Reverse sky,' I thought to myself.
And as I sat waiting for my flight to board on Sunday,
catching up on some reading,
I learned that by the year 2020, only 10% of the US population
will have a view of the night sky- due to light pollution.
The same lights that looked so regal from 10,000 feet above,
will cause the constellations to vanish from the naked eye.
Thank goodness for the Windmill Factory.
Illuminating the issue at Pier 49 with solar- powered LEDs,
which mimic the patterns of our starry skies.

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