We need to embrace the darkness of nighttime

File image of Los Angeles at night viewed from the Griffith Observatory. Scientists say Earth’s light pollution is on the rise, with implications for the environment and human health. — Tribune News Service

As the Covid-19 pandemic has moved around the world, cities have gone into lockdown and people have been encouraged to stay at home. In many places, curfews have been introduced.

Back in spring under the first UK lockdown, I went on numerous night walks in my home city of Manchester. I was struck by several things. Without traffic or trains, birdsong prevailed in this peculiar quietness. The air was fresh and crisp without the usual pollution. Yet, the artificial lights of the city at night still blazed, for no one.