title: The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness.
abstract: Artificial lights raise night sky luminance, creating the most visible effect of light pollution-artificial skyglow. Despite the increasing interest among scientists in fields such as ecology, astronomy, health care, and land-use planning, light pollution lacks a current quantification of its magnitude on a global scale. To overcome this, we present the world atlas of artificial sky luminance, computed with our light pollution propagation software using new high-resolution satellite data and new precision sky brightness measurements. This atlas shows that more than 80% of the world and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans. Moreover, 23% of the world's land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, 88% of Europe, and almost half of the United States experience light-polluted nights.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell'Inquinamento Luminoso (Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute), 36016 Thiene, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3706-5639
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Falchi
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell'Inquinamento Luminoso (Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute), 36016 Thiene, Italy.
authors.forename: Pierantonio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cinzano
authors.affiliation: National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior, Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, Fort Collins, CO 80525, USA.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Duriscoe
authors.affiliation: Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Potsdam, Germany.; Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christopher C M
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7014-1843
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kyba
authors.affiliation: Earth Observation Group, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Elvidge
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, 3498838 Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Boris A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Portnov
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, 3498838 Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Nataliya A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Rybnikova
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell'Inquinamento Luminoso (Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute), 36016 Thiene, Italy.; American Association of Variable Star Observers, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Furgoni
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000569:Americas; D001208:Asia; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D005060:Europe; D008029:Lighting; D008377:Maps as Topic; D015233:Models, Statistical
keywords: astronomy; environmental protection; light pollution