Tag Archives: Nighttime

The Arctic, once defined by its frozen, inhospitable climate and long winter nights, is experiencing dramatic transformations as the region warms almost four times faster than the global average. This rapid warming has spurred increased industrial activity and development, changes now illuminated in striking detail by nighttime satellite observations. An international team of researchers, leveraging data from the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, has discovered that artificial lighting in the Arctic increased by 5 percent annually between 1992 and 2013. Over this 21-year span, 234,000 square miles of the Arctic landscape transitioned from dark to lit.Nighttime lights in the Arctic from 1992 to 2013. The Arctic became 5 percent brighter per year over the study period as industrial activities have increased.Wanmei Liang/Akandil, C., et al. 2024/NASA Earth Observatory "Only 15 percent of the lit-up areas of the...