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- It can be easy 
to get wrapped up

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in the hustle and bustle 
of human existence.

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But there's one thing 
I can always return to

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to remind me just how 
small we are here on Earth.

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And that reminder is, without 
a doubt, the night sky.

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Sadly, here in LA,

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that light pollution 
gets in the way

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of my stargazing all the time.

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But what if it didn't have to?

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What if we could 
turn the lights down?

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We can.

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In fact, there is a 
movement around the world

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to reclaim our night skies.

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(pensive music)

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(switch clicks)

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The mountains of Colorado 
are home to stunning sights

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and the town of Paonia 
is no exception.

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- So great to show our 
little town off like this.

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- [Baratunde] Aaron Watson 
is a climate scientist

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and engineer living 
here in Paonia.

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- It's our local movie theater.

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At certain times of the year,

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if you hit it just right, 
the full moon rises

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right over, 
(moon whirring)

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which is pretty cool.

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- [Baratunde] Like me, he 
understands what it's like

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to live disconnected 
from the night sky.

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- I grew up in Rhode Island 
and if you go there now,

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you can't see the 
stars anymore there.

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The sky is diluted by 
the light pollution.

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But here in Paonia, when I 
finally found this place,

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I was so inspired 
by the night sky.

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That's when I got 
my first telescope.

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That's when I really started

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getting into the 
Dark Sky movement.

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- [Baratunde] Aaron is the 
chair of Dark Sky Colorado,

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an organization dedicated 
to the preservation

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of night skies all 
across the state.

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- About 80% of the 
people in North America

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can't see the Milky Way 
from where they live.

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There's too much 
light pollution.

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They call it sky glow.

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So it's essentially all 
the lights from the ground

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that people use are 
shining up into the sky.

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The light goes up 
into the atmosphere

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and bounces off particles 
in the atmosphere

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and scatters 
everywhere you look.

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It essentially creates 
like a perpetual twilight

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all night long.

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- [Baratunde] While 
most of the country

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is losing its dark 
skies due to sky glow,

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here in Paonia, the skies 
are only getting darker.

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You see, Paonia is 
working towards becoming

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a certified Dark Sky Community.

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They're taking active measures 
to protect the night sky

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by reducing light pollution.

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And the results are,

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well, they're outta this world.

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(ethereal music)

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- In Paonia, we 
have that rare view

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where we can still see 
right in the alleys,

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in the dark spaces in town,

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that sparkling band 
of the Milky Way

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that you don't have 
in so many places

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throughout the United 
States and even the world.

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(ethereal music)

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- [Baratunde] Imagine 
stepping out your front door

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and seeing this night sky.

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It's like you're standing 
on the edge of the universe.

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- Once you see the 
night sky full of stars,

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it's so amazing

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and it's just the 
most awe-inspiring 
and wonderful thing,

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like that's been such 
a part of history,

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of being a human, you know?

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And now we've lost that.

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- But light pollution 
does way more

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than keep us humans 
from enjoying the 
beauty of the stars.

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It affects the day-to-day lives

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of many other species, as well.

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- The ecosystem is 
actually really impacted

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by artificial light at night.

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One example is trees.

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A lot of tree species,

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if they're under a streetlight 
or around artificial light,

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they'll actually delay their 
leaf drop in the autumn.

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And so that can have an effect.

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You know, if they're 
getting ready for winter

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and their leaf drop is delayed,

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that can affect the 
health of the tree.

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Another one is insects.

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So when you see insects circling 
around that light at night,

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that's actually not 
good for the insects.

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That tires them out

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and it makes them 
die, essentially.

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And light pollution's 
one of the major causes

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of the insect apocalypse 
that they're calling.

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And another one is birds.

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They're devastated by 
artificial light at night.

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- [Baratunde] 
That's right, birds.

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Each year, millions of 
birds lose their lives

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due to the effects 
of light pollution.

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Here in Colorado, 
scientists are studying why.

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- I mean, oftentimes 
people ask what I do.

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I tell them about how 
I spend the nights

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outside monitoring how many 
birds are moving over an area

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and then their first 
question is, why at night?

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And so they're often surprised

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when I tell 'em that the 
vast majority of birds

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are actually migrating 
under the cover of darkness.

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- [Baratunde] Mikko 
Jimenez is a PhD student

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at Colorado State University.

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He works on a team 
led by Kyle Horton

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studying the migrations of 
birds, bats, and insects.

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- We take this knowledge that 
birds migrate for granted

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kind of common knowledge now

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but this wasn't 
always exactly clear.

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I honestly think it's 
worth highlighting.

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People used to think that 
birds would migrate to the moon

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or that birds would 
spend the winter

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like hibernating under mud.

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- [Baratunde] While they 
may not fly to the moon,

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birds today still 
have to overcome

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a great obstacle 
to their migration.

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They're encountering a 
pretty novel stimulus,

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really, in their 
evolutionary history

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and that being light pollution.

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- So light pollution 
tends to attract birds

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to these brightly lit areas

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where they then face a 
whole host of factors.

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They may get stuck in those 
areas being disoriented.

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They are near novel 
predators like cats

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or other human-introduced 
predators.

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It really throws them off 
where they're migrating.

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They can change the direction 
that they're migrating.

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We're gonna go set up our tents.

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I don't know if that's something 
you want to shoot or not.

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Oh, yeah. Okay.

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- [Baratunde] With so many 
birds migrating at night

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scientists like Mikko and Kyle

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face a challenge of their own,

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watching for birds 
in pitch darkness.

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This is where modern 
science gets to shine.

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- And one of the 
more useful tools

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that we've started using

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a little bit more 
recently is radar.

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- Yeah, so this behind 
us is a small scale radar

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and this tool is 
something that allows us

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to really see what's going on 
up in the atmosphere at night.

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- [Baratunde] Okay, I'm 
gonna need a breakdown

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of how all this works.

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- So right now it's warming up.

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This screen here,

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this interface basically 
shows us what it's seeing,

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you know, directly above it.

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It'll be a lot cooler once 
it's happening. (laughs)

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So we're actually moving now.

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The radar just started 
sending out signals.

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So here already,

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we're starting to see some 
insects in the atmosphere

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as well as some songbirds.

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You know, as the 
night moves through,

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we'll get to see what's 
passing over the site.

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And for us, that 
means what birds,

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how many birds and what 
direction they're heading.

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- [Baratunde] Using 
a series of radars

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across different sites,

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the team can track large 
scale bird migration patterns

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and generate maps that show when

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and where birds 
will pass overhead.

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- And when we start 
digging through this data,

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we can see some nights 
have a few birds moving

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and some nights have 
a tremendous number 
of birds moving.

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And when I mean a 
tremendous number,

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we're talking about hundreds 
of millions of birds

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moving through airspace 
at continental scales.

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- [Baratunde] Wow, 
that's a lot of birds.

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- Yeah, it's a lot of birds.

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- [Baratunde] Clearly, 
preserving the darkness

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of the night skies is 
tremendously important,

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not just for us,

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but the ecosystem around us. 
(pensive music)

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So what can communities do 
to combat light pollution?

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- So here in Paonia,

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we have a lighting 
ordinance in place

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that's Dark Sky compliant

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and that asks residents 
to be responsible

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with their lighting and follow 
the Dark Sky principles.

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The first one is shielding.

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So it's putting a 
shield on the light

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so that it's shining down.

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It's not shining up into the sky

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and it's not shining into 
your neighbor's land.

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The second piece is 
color temperature.

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So we want a low 
color temperature.

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We want more warmer, 
amber colored light

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not the blue and white light.

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Those are too harsh 
on the environment.

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And the third one is

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we want to keep our light dim.

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Only use as much light as 
we need, and not anymore.

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- [Baratunde] These are examples 
of the kinds of regulations

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that ensure Dark Sky 
Communities stay that way.

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As of July 2023,

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there are 40 certified Dark 
Sky Communities in the world

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and Colorado hosts five of them,

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with many more like 
Paonia making the switch.

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- So here's a great example 
of Dark Sky friendly lighting.

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Look how it's off. 
(people laughing)

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So it's not needed.

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It's plenty bright here,

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and great, they 
have 'em turned off.

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That's wonderful.

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- [Baratunde] And it's not 
just small towns making changes

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to minimize sky glow.

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Cities like Tucson, Arizona

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have reclaimed their 
beautiful night skies as well.

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So we know Aaron is a big 
fan of the Dark Sky movement,

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but what about his neighbors?

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How do they feel 
about these changes?

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(man laughing)

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- I was originally 
on that committee

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that put together the 
Dark Skies initiative.

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You know, most people were 
very much in favor of it.

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We had a few people say, no.

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- The stars are magnificent.

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You can walk outside any night.

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And right up over head,

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right up right there,

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you can see the Big Dipper 
just as clear as can be.

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- You wanna step outside

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and just absorb the infinite 
galaxy that is around us.

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- You know, there's a lot 
of parts of the Dark Skies

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that I agreed with.

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And then there were things

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that I very strongly 
disagreed with.

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- Being outside,

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and your neighbor has a 
floodlight on their garage

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and it's the middle 
of the night,

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for no reason.

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- Do I think I have a right

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to shine a spotlight on 
my neighbor's window?

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No, but I felt like the 
pendulum swung too far

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on restrictions.

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It was an overreach.

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00:09:05,478 --> 00:09:07,079
- I mean, I lived off the grid

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on the side of a 
mountain for five years.

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So the more stars, the 
better, in my opinion.

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- It's clear this ordinance

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inspires some pretty 
strong emotions.

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Which brings up a good point.

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How realistic is it for 
communities across the country

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to commit to these 
kind of practices?

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Does a city like LA 
need to go fully dark?

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- People think that Dark Sky,

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we're trying to come and 
take the lights away.

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We're not.

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We're just asking people 
to use it responsibly

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and not shine it 
into the night sky

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or into their neighbor's yard.

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You know, we're not 
really trying to tell 
people what to do.

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We'd rather educate people

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and have them make the 
right decision themselves

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'cause once they 
have the education,

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it's really a 
win-win for everyone.

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You know, you get the 
light where you need it

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and then you don't have 
it where you don't.

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That's really all we're asking.

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- [Baratunde] The path forward 
involves intentionality.

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- Welcome to the living room.

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00:10:00,166 --> 00:10:01,968
Water's hot if you want it.

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- [Baratunde] And for 
ecologists, like Mikko and Kyle,

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the data they collect 
may hold the key.

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Remember this 
statistic from earlier?

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- We're talking about 
hundreds of millions of birds

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moving through airspace 
at continental scales.

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- [Baratunde] When 
they break down

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that statistic even further...

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- We actually find that

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it's just 10 nights of migration

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are gonna account 
for 50% of migrants

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moving through an area.

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- [Baratunde] This migration 
happens twice a year

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which is about 20 nights total.

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That's wild.

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Literally, because scientists 
can warn the locals

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to make sure they've 
dim the lights

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when the birds are most at risk.

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- That kind of statistic 
really colors the way

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that we approach conservation

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because we should ideally 
be trying to help birds

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as they migrate all 
the time, right?

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But if we know the nights,

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when the majority of 
birds are migrating,

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then we can make sure 
that we take action

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00:10:52,918 --> 00:10:54,754
on those really big 
nights of migration.

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- The data we're providing,

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00:10:56,022 --> 00:10:57,690
the alerts that we're providing,

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they're being used by cities.

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We see this in 
Chicago and New York,

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00:11:01,427 --> 00:11:04,296
parts of Texas and Houston, 
Dallas, Fort Worth.

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00:11:04,296 --> 00:11:07,933
Light pollution does have a 
pretty tractable solution.

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00:11:07,933 --> 00:11:10,870
It's not a trivial solution 
of turning off lights

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00:11:10,870 --> 00:11:13,639
but it's something that 
if we did it tonight,

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it would have a positive 
impact immediately.

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00:11:16,242 --> 00:11:20,146
And that's not true of 
most environmental issues.

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That's what excites 
me about this work.

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- [Baratunde] So don't worry,

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00:11:24,450 --> 00:11:26,452
we don't have to go 
back to the Stone Age

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00:11:26,452 --> 00:11:28,521
to reclaim our night skies

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00:11:28,521 --> 00:11:31,190
and we don't need to 
go fully dark either

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00:11:31,190 --> 00:11:33,159
to help the 
ecosystems around us.

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00:11:35,461 --> 00:11:37,997
Being a Dark Sky Community

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00:11:37,997 --> 00:11:40,199
is about more than 
just ordinances.

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00:11:40,199 --> 00:11:42,768
(upbeat folk music)

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00:11:42,768 --> 00:11:44,837
It's about getting to 
know your community.

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00:11:46,338 --> 00:11:48,507
- [Aaron] It's really just a 
few people coming together.

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00:11:48,507 --> 00:11:49,909
That's how we make change.

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00:11:50,910 --> 00:11:52,144
Arron. 
- Arron. Meghan.

319
00:11:52,144 --> 00:11:53,045
Nice to meet you. 
- Pleasure to meet ya.

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00:11:53,045 --> 00:11:54,313
- This is Chuck. 
- Chuck?

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00:11:54,313 --> 00:11:55,281
- [Aaron] There's 
really no reason

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00:11:55,281 --> 00:11:57,416
not to enjoy the night sky.

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00:11:58,651 --> 00:11:59,885
It just fills me with wonder

324
00:11:59,885 --> 00:12:02,321
and awe to see a night 
sky full of stars.

325
00:12:02,321 --> 00:12:03,823
And that is something that

326
00:12:03,823 --> 00:12:05,624
I think everyone in the world

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00:12:05,624 --> 00:12:07,460
should have the 
opportunity to see.

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00:12:08,494 --> 00:12:11,564
- Brilliant. 
(people exclaiming)

329
00:12:11,564 --> 00:12:13,299
- Wow. Yeah. 
(people faintly talking)

330
00:12:13,299 --> 00:12:14,834
- Wow. 
(ethereal music)

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00:12:14,834 --> 00:12:17,269
- [Aaron] This 
makes people happy.

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00:12:17,269 --> 00:12:20,139
Like really happy in 
a really deep way.

333
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:22,842
- [Woman] Oh, that is so lovely.

334
00:12:24,243 --> 00:12:26,212
- Taking back our night sky

335
00:12:26,212 --> 00:12:28,748
may require taking 
some intentional,

336
00:12:28,748 --> 00:12:31,150
sometimes cumbersome steps

337
00:12:31,150 --> 00:12:32,318
but the reward?

338
00:12:33,285 --> 00:12:34,854
Is magnificent.

339
00:12:34,854 --> 00:12:37,757
(ethereal music)

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00:12:39,158 --> 00:12:40,659
Thank you for watching

341
00:12:40,659 --> 00:12:43,696
and for more amazing stories 
about the great outdoors,

342
00:12:43,696 --> 00:12:46,465
checkout season two 
of America Outdoors,

343
00:12:46,465 --> 00:12:48,901
with Baratunde Thurston. 
(bell chimes)

344
00:12:48,901 --> 00:12:50,503
We're in the PBS app.

345
00:12:50,503 --> 00:12:52,371
We're in your PBS local station.

346
00:12:52,371 --> 00:12:55,875
And find out even more at the 
link in the description below.

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00:12:55,875 --> 00:12:58,611
Thanks. 
(gentle music)