Light pollution as an environmental hazard

Light pollution is one of the most widespread but at the same time least noticeable environmental hazards resulting from human activity. It is defined as disturbing the nocturnal environment with light emitted by anthropogenic sources. Light pollution is described as the glare, the trespass, and the sky glow resulting from the scattering of artificial light in the atmosphere. The paper analyses the impact of these three categories on the environment. The results of the long-term research on this problem are presented. It was found that the largest impact on the environment, both direct by the glare and indirect by the sky glow, result from lamps with spherical shields and LED advertising billboards. The possible influence of light pollution on the eutrophication of reservoirs was also researched.