Thursday, April 17, 2014

Free Screening of ‘The City Dark’ - 4/26

A public screening of the award winning documentary ‘The City Dark: A Search for Night on a Planet that Never Sleeps’ will take place at St. Andrews Episcopal Church’s Parish Hall (100 N Palmway, Lake Worth) on Saturday, April 26th at 7:30 p.m. as part of the 2014 Lake Worth Earth Day Fest.  

The free event will begin with a special presentation by Dr. Kirt W. Rusenko, Marine Conservationist at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, who will share his insights on impacts of light pollution to humans and wildlife. 

‘The City Dark’ is a documentary that chronicles the effects of light pollution, which increasingly impacts Lake Worth residents. “Lake Worth is at a crossroads,” explains Richard Stowe, co-founder of the community organization Dark Sky Lake Worth, “because our older stock of street lighting may be replaced with bright, blue LED lighting.  This could significantly worsen light pollution within our City limits and exacerbate sky glow over neighboring Palm Beach Island”. 

Stowe hopes that screening ‘The City Dark’ will begin a community conversation about what can be done to minimize light pollution.  “It offers a new perspective on impacts and consequences of unneeded, artificial outdoor lighting.”  

These impacts include not only habitat disruption for wildlife, but also health hazards to humans.  The American Medical Association (AMA) suspects a causal relationship between breast cancer and melatonin suppression caused by artificial light. The AMA supports light pollution reduction efforts at national and state levels. 

To learn more about the impact of light pollution attend the free screening of ‘The City Dark’ on Saturday, April 26th, 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrews Episcopal Church’s Parish Hall.  

For more information contact Richard Stowe at 561-231-3509.