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Media Appearances

Spokane Public Radio (21 December 2017)

12/27/2017

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Central Idaho Area Declared Dark Sky Reserve

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[A] swath of Idaho has been declared to be a special region where the night sky will be preserved. ... There may be an economic benefit to the designation.

The International Dark Sky Association's John Barentine says the region will now be a choice place for a new breed of traveler, those who engage in “astrotourism”.

“We're seeing a lot of interest from people in East Asia, for example. And it would not surprise me if they end up with a lot of tourists from China, Japan and Korea who come to central Idaho from the attention the designation will bring them,” says Barentine.


Read more: http://spokanepublicradio.org/post/central-idaho-area-declared-dark-sky-reserve
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The Takeaway (22 December 2017)

12/27/2017

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U.S. Gets its First International Dark Sky Reserve in Idaho

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The International Dark Sky Association designated first Dark Sky Reserve in the United States, and it's in Idaho.

John Barentine, the International Dark Sky Association Program Manager, joins The Takeaway to talk about conserving the night sky and why this particular designation in Idaho is significant.
Read more: http://www.wnyc.org/story/us-gets-first-international-dark-sky-reserve-idaho/
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Texas Monthly (5 December 2017)

12/8/2017

2 Comments

 

How Big Bend Ranch State Park Earned Its Dark Sky Designation

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“The stars at night are big and bright, but if our cities overwhelm that light, we won’t see that,” says John Barentine, a program manager at the International Dark-Sky Association, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving night skies by combating light pollution. Barentine, who lived in Austin for seven years before moving to Arizona to work with the IDA, says he reminds Texans about the lyrics of “Deep in the Heart of Texas” to point out how integral the night sky is to the state’s folklore and culture. Unfortunately, most of us don’t see those bright stars: for 99 percent of residents in the U.S. and Europe, the night sky is obfuscated by light pollution.
Read more: https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/big-bend-ranch-state-park-designated-dark-sky-park/www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/big-bend-ranch-state-park-designated-dark-sky-park/
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The New Falcon Herald (Falcon, Colo.; 2 December 2017)

12/2/2017

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Lights polluting our skies?

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John Barentine, a physical scientist and program manager for the IDA, said the concept of light pollution can be fairly subjective. For some people, skyglow or the brightening of the night sky that makes it difficult to see the stars, may be an acceptable consequence to being able to see at night, he said. For others, a single neighbor’s lights glowing from their property into the neighbor’s windows at night, called light trespass, is a major problem, Barentine said.

The IDA receives many requests opposing holiday lighting because it contributes to light pollution, but Barentine said the organization must take a pragmatic approach to solving the problem. “We are not trying to turn the world’s lights off,” he said. “We know that is not a practical solution to the problem.”
Read more: http://www.newfalconherald.com/DisplayArticles.php?ArticleID=12705
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National Public Radio (25 November 2017)

12/2/2017

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Idaho Dims The Lights For One Of The Best Night Skies Anywhere

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Out of the five categories the International Dark-Sky Association recognizes, John Barentine, the association's program manager, says a reserve is the most difficult status to achieve. The Arizona-based group vets and credentials exceptionally dark locales.

In the case of central Idaho's bid for a reserve, Barentine didn't seek out the people in one of the darkest places left in the Lower 48 states.

"It was some folks from Stanley — they told me that they view the nighttime darkness, and you know, the ability to see the Milky Way, as something that is definitive of their part of the state and their part of the country," says Barentine.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2017/11/25/566074921/idaho-dims-the-lights-for-one-of-the-best-night-skies-anywhere
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CBC News (24 November 2017)

12/2/2017

1 Comment

 

Energy-efficient light bulbs increasing light pollution, new study suggests

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Over the past four years, the artificially lit surface of Earth at night increased by two per cent annually, or 9.1 per cent in total.

John Barentine, program manager at the International Dark-Sky Association out of Tuscon, Ariz., said the findings aren't a surprise.

"It's not just a problem of the West... we're really seeing it all over the world," Barentine, who was not involved with the study, told CBC News.

"When something becomes less expensive to produce, we tend to use more of it than less," Barentine said. "Some of us had this suspicion that maybe all these cost savings of the better energy efficiency of lighting may just be ploughed back into buying more lighting...and that seems to be what's happening."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/energy-efficient-light-bulbs-increase-light-pollution-1.4410756www.cbc.ca/news/technology/energy-efficient-light-bulbs-increase-light-pollution-1.4410756
1 Comment

Gizmodo (22 November 2017)

12/2/2017

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The Switch to Outdoor LED Lighting Has Completely Backfired

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“This study is important because it validates with data two things we have suspected: that the rate of growth of light pollution continues upward on a worldwide scale, and that the migration of outdoor lighting from older technologies to LED isn’t having the anticipated benefit in terms of global reductions in energy usage,” John Barentine, the resident physical scientist for the International Dark-Sky Association, told Gizmodo. “The latter point is especially important because a number of governments have been convinced to convert their outdoor lighting to LED on the basis of promised reductions in energy usage.”

Barentine, who wasn’t involved in the new study, says the cost savings from the improved energy efficiency of LED lighting has been directed towards the deployment of more lighting, and with important environmental consequences both in terms of light pollution and carbon emissions.

Read more: https://gizmodo.com/the-switch-to-outdoor-led-lighting-has-completely-backf-1820652615gizmodo.com/the-switch-to-outdoor-led-lighting-has-completely-backf-1820652615
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    Available for radio/TV/print interviews and appearances relating to astronomy, light pollution and dark skies. Contact me!

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  • Home
  • Bio
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    • Germany 2019
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    • Wyoming Eclipse 2017
    • Catalonia 2017
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    • Korea 2014
  • Astronomy
    • Carbon Star List
    • The Bluest Hipparchos Stars
    • Astronomical Visibility
    • Lunar Domes
    • Astrophotography
  • Research
    • Earthshine
    • Skyglow
    • Megaconstellations
    • Night Sky Photometers
  • Papers
  • Books
    • Ashen Light of Venus
    • The Lost Constellations
    • Uncharted Constellations
  • Contact