Impacts of Rising Light Pollution on Pollinators and Indigenous Food Sovereignty

Abstract Rapid increases in ground-based light pollution in recent decades and the accompanying rise in night sky brightness (NSB) have wide-ranging impacts on astronomical observations, cultural sky traditions, and the health of human beings and living ecosystems. Rising NSB affects the seasonal cycles of plants and the migration of birds, insects and animals. Here we focus on the migratory paths and populations of pollinators, and implications for the food sovereignty of Indigenous communities. These increasingly documented trends need targeted light pollution policies, as well as public engagement. Although current measures of light pollution and NSB are likely underestimated, successfully implemented solutions exist for this urgent yet solvable environmental crisis of our time.