Composite image of Europe and North Africa at night, 2016. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data from Miguel Roman, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Artificial light is often seen as a sign of progress:the march of civilization shines a light in the dark; it takes back the night; it illuminates. But a chorus of scientists and advocates argues that unnaturally bright night s are bad not just for astronomers but also for nocturnal(夜间活动的) animals and even for human health.
2016年，欧洲和北非夜晚的合成图像。图片来源：美国宇航局地球观测站的Joshua Stevens，使用了来自美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心的Miguel Roman的Suomi NPP VIIRS数据。人造光常被视为进步的标志：文明的行进在黑暗中照亮了道路；它夺回了夜晚；它照亮了一切。但是，一群科学家和倡导者认为，不自然的明亮夜晚不仅对天文学家有害，对夜间活动的动物甚至对人类健康也有害。

Now research shows the night is getting even brighter. From 2012 to 2016 the earth’s artificially lit area expanded by an estimated 2.2 percent a year (map), according to a study published last November in Science Advances. Even that increase may understate the problem, however. The measurement excludes light from most of the energy-efficient LED lamps that have been replacing sodium-vapor technology in cities all over the world, says lead study author Christopher Kyba, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam.
现在的研究表明，夜晚变得更加明亮。根据去年11月在《科学进展》上发表的一项研究，从2012年到2016年，地球的人造照明区域每年估计扩大了2.2%（地图）。然而，这项研究的主要作者Christopher Kyba表示，这个增长可能低估了问题。这项测量不包括大部分能效更高的LED灯发出的光，这些LED灯正在全球各地的城市中取代钠蒸汽技术。

The new data came from a NASA satellite instrument called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). It can measure long —- wavelengths of light, such as those produced by traditional yellow-and-orange sodium-vapor street lamps. But VIIRS cannot see the short -wavelength blue light produced by white LEDs. This light has been shown to disrupt human sleep cycles and nocturnal animals’ behavior.
新数据来自美国宇航局的一个名为可见红外成像辐射计套件（VIIRS）的卫星仪器。它可以测量长波长的光，比如由传统的黄橙色钠蒸汽路灯产生的光。但是VIIRS看不到由白光LED产生的短波长蓝光。这种光已被证明会扰乱人类的睡眠周期和夜间动物的行为。

Credit: Mapping Specialists; Source:“Artificially Lit Surface of Earth at Night Increasing in Radiance and Extent,”by Christopher C. M. Kyba ct al., in Science Advances, Vol.3 , No.11, Article No. E1701528;November 22,2017.
图片来源：制图专家；来源：“地球上人工照明表面的辐射和范围在增加”，作者Christopher C. M. Kyba等人，发表于《科学进展》第3卷，第11期，文章编号E1701528；2017年11月22日。

The team believes the ongoing switch to LEDs caused already bright countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U. S. to register as having stable levels of illumination in the VIERS data. In contrast, most nations in South America, Africa and Asia brightened, suggesting increases in the use of traditional lighting. Australia actually appeared to lose lit area—but the researchers say that is because wildfires skewed the data.
研究团队认为，正在进行的转向LED灯导致已经明亮的国家，如意大利、荷兰、西班牙和美国，在VIIRS数据中显示出稳定的照明水平。相比之下，南美、非洲和亚洲的大多数国家变得更亮，这表明传统照明的使用增加了。澳大利亚实际上看起来失去了照明区域，但研究人员表示，这是因为野火扭曲了数据。

“The fact that VIIRS finds an increase (in many countries), despite its blindness in the part ofthe spectrum that increased more, is very sad,”says FabioFalchi, a researcher at Italy’s Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute, who did not participate in the study. In 2016 Falchi, along with Kyba and several other members of his research team, published a global atlas of artificial lighting that showed one third of the world’s population currently lives under skies too bright to see the Milky Way at night.
“尽管VIIRS在光谱的增加更多的部分看不见，但它发现许多国家的增长（实际上）是非常悲哀的，”意大利光污染科学与技术研究所的研究员Fabio Falchi说，他没有参与这项研究。2016年，Falchi与Kyba和他的研究团队的其他几名成员一起，出版了一本全球人工照明地图集，显示全球三分之一的人口目前生活在夜晚看不到银河系的过于明亮的天空下。
The data also cast doubt on the idea that the LED lighting revolution will lead to energy cost savings. Between 2012 and 2016 the media n nation pumped out 15 percent more long-wavelength light as its GDP increased by 13 percent. And overall, countries’total light production correlated with their GDP. In other words, Kyba says,“we buy as much light as we are willing to spend money on.”

数据同样对LED照明革命将带来能源成本节省的观点提出了质疑。在2012年至2016年间，随着国内生产总值（GDP）增长了13%，全国的媒体输出了15%更多的长波长光。总体上，各国的总光产量与其GDP相关。换句话说，Kyba表示：“我们购买的光量与我们愿意花费的金钱成正比。”

1. Which is not true about the spread of lit areas?
   A. Lit area expanded by an estimated 2.2 percent a year.
   B. Artificial light is often seen as a sign of progress.
   C. The increase in GDP is due to the increase in light.
   D. It is bad for nocturnal animals and even for human health.
   答案：C

2. What is the function of VIIRS?
   A. It can taking pictures of the Earth to solve problems.
   B. It can record and analyse long wavelengths of light.
   C. It is a NASA satellite around the earth.
   D. It can find the light that is bad for human sleep cycles.
   答案：B

3. According to the article, what we can know about the LEDs?
   A. Unnaturally LED lights are bad for people.
   B. It is a sign of civilization in modern society.
   C. VIIRS can see the light produced by white LEDs.
   D. Artificially lit surface of Earth increasing because of LEDs.
   答案：A

4. The author writes this article to _.
   A. show the night is getting even brighter
   B. tell people that VIIRS measure long wavelengths of light
   C. complain that the Milky Way is not visible at night
   D. attempt to arouse people’s awareness of light pollution
   答案：D