Calgary to dim light pollution

Calgary citycouncil voted Mondayto do a better job of reducing light pollution by creating tougher lighting standards in its planning rules.

The night cloud of light thrown off by Calgary is twice the size it was in the 1980s and that is hurting the work done by the city's local observatory.

"This is going to try to get people to be more cognizant of the fact that the light that they use impacts the world around them and we're all partners in light pollution," says Phil Langill, who works with the University of Calgary's observatory in southwest Calgary.

"We all use light but we should all be partners in reducing light pollution and using light more intelligently."

Langill says that while the changes may not have noticable results immediately, they should result in greater awareness about the problems related to light pollution.