Background: Light pollution is increasingly an area of concern for health and quality of life research. Somewhat surprisingly, there are relatively few descriptions of perceptions of light pollution in the literature. The current study examined such perceptions in a Irish sample. Methods: A survey was circulated as part of a citizen science initiative of a national newspaper; the survey included questions regarding night sky brightness and the impact of light at night on sleep and animal behaviour. Complete responses from 462 respondents were analysed. Results: Urban location was, as anticipated, associated with reported brighter night skies, and public lighting was reported as the main source of light at night for urban settings, whilst neighbours’ domestic lighting was the most commonly reported source for rural settings. Respondents from rural settings were more likely to report that light at night impinged on sleep, whilst city dwellers were more likely to report recent changes in wildlife behaviour. Conclusions: Citizen science approaches may be useful in gathering data on public perceptions of light pollution and its impacts. In the current study, this perception was strongly influenced by location, highlighting the importance of assessing experiences and attitudes across a number of geographical settings.

中文翻译：

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光污染及其影响的感知：爱尔兰公民科学调查的结果。

背景：光污染日益成为人们关注健康和生活质量的研究领域。出乎意料的是，文献中对光污染知觉的描述相对较少。目前的研究在爱尔兰样本中检验了这种看法。方法：作为国家报纸的公民科学计划的一部分，进行了一项调查。该调查包括有关夜空亮度以及夜间光线对睡眠和动物行为的影响的问题。分析了462名受访者的完整答复。结果：正如预期的那样，城市位置与所报告的夜空有关，据报道，公共照明是城市环境中夜间的主要光源，而邻居的家庭照明是农村环境中最常报告的光源。来自农村地区的受访者更有可能报告夜间光线影响睡眠，而城市居民则更有可能报告野生动物行为的最新变化。结论：公民科学方法可能有助于收集公众对光污染及其影响的看法的数据。在当前的研究中，这种感知受到位置的强烈影响，突显了评估许多地理环境中的经验和态度的重要性。