Unawareness in environmental protection: The case of light pollution from traffic

New information is often emphasized as a basis of effective and scientifically sound environmental policy and management. However, outdated or incorrect information is not automatically nor instantly replaced by new insights. This article focuses on the various ways environmental information can be unintentionally left with insufficient attention or purposefully neglected. Energy-related emissions caused by road traffic in Finland are used as an illustrative example and light pollution caused by artificial lighting is identified as an emerging issue that has gained especially low recognition in the environmental agenda. Four different reasons for this lack of recognition are discussed: recognized unawareness, false awareness, deliberate unawareness and concealed awareness. Paying attention to light pollution is important because of various ecological, socio-cultural and economic effects but also because implementing measures aimed for reducing light pollution create possibilities for alleviating other social and environmental problems in transport and land use policies.

► Light pollution from artificial lighting is a widespread environmental change affecting most areas of industrialized world.
► It can have serious ecological, health and economic consequences.
► Light pollution has not been recognized as a key environmental problem.
► Acknowledging the problem is required in order to decrease the extent and intensity of harmful light pollution.