Talking Dutch: Can someone please turn out the lights?
It appears you can see Belgium from space – but it’s not something we should be proud of
Derek Blyth on glowing in the dark
It all started a few weeks ago when French astronaut Thomas Pesquet posted a photograph on his Facebook page. Taken from the International Space Station, it showed Europe at night.
Pesquet added a comment below the photo saying Belgium clearly distinguishes itself, as usual. The internet went crazy, according to De Morgen.
De foto’s lokten tienduizenden reacties uit op Facebook – The photos sparked off tens of thousands of responses on Facebook en buitenlandse media, van de BBC tot The New York Times – and international media, from the BBC to the New York Times bogen zich over de vraag waarom ons land zo helder is – asked themselves why our country is so bright.
So what made Belgium glow so brightly compared to other aeas on earth? Buitenlandse media werpen een licht – The foreign press shed some light op de bron van de lichtvervuiling – on the source of the light pollution.
Het dichte wegennetwerk in het land – The country’s dense road network is bijna volledig verlicht – is almost totally lit up, en de lichten blijven de hele nacht aan – and the lights stay on the whole night long, the BBC reported.
Dimming down
The New York Times then came up with some hard figures. Het land gebruikt ongeveer 2,2 miljoen lampen – The country uses roughly 2.2 million lightbulbs om de wegen te verlichten – to light up its roads. Dat zijn 186 lampen per vierkante mijl – That works out to 186 lights per square mile.
The comments were far from positive. Wat een verspilling – What a waste, someone said. Ik hoop dat de Belgen stoppen met hun wegen zo te verlichten – I hope the Belgians stop lighting up the highways this way, someone else added, als ze niet willen dat buitenaardse wezens er landen – unless they want aliens from outer space to land.
But the Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer – the Flemish Road Traffic Agency – was quick to defend itself. We stralen inderdaad nog – It’s true that we shine out, maar toch minder dan vroeger – but it’s less than before, said a spokesperson.
In 2011 al – Back in 2011 doofde toenmalige minister van Openbare Werken Crevits de verlichting – the then minister for public works [Hilde] Crevits turned out the lights op de snelwegen en geweestwegen tussen middernacht en 6 uur – on motorways and regional highways between midnight and 6.00.
Still, the Bond Beter Leefmilieu is calling for less street lighting. Bij de mens leidt lichtvervuiling tot slaapstoornissen – Light pollution leads to sleep disorders in humans. En dieren krijgen last – And animals experience problems van een ontregelde winterslaap – because of disrupted winter hibernation.
It seems Belgium needs to dim the lights.
Photo: Thomas Pesquet/European Space Agency/Nasa
