Light Pollution In Let There Be Dark By Paul Bogard

With light pollution becoming a growing problem issue, author Paul Bogard addresses it in “Let There Be Dark.” Bogard builds his argument using anecdotes, credible evidence, and loaded vocabulary. The article begins with a story from his past -- a night when “meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars.” By saying this, Bogard attempts to make the reader gaze into their past for a similar memory, thus creating an emotional connection between themselves and the night sky. Furthermore, he continues to say that he worries “that we are rapidly losing night’s natural darkness,” in order to convince readers to think about what their lives would be like without the extravagant night sky. This anecdote is used by the author to provide a baseline for his claims and to emotionally connect the readers to the topic of light pollution.

In his third paragraph, the author focuses on the negative side-effects of that light pollution can have on the human body. He states that “the World Health Organization classifies the night shift as a carcinogen,” meaning that it can contribute to the development of cancer. Moreover, he states that it is absolutely necessary for our bodies “to produce the hormone melatonin” because it can prevent “certain cancers from developing.” He Then connects light pollution to nature by saying how detrimental it is toward “species of birds, insects, mammals, fish, and reptiles.” These facts are used in a way that shows that we are not the only hurting ourselves, but other species and the ecological system of the earth as a whole. This is meant to elicit feelings of guilt towards the