Today WGBH’s widely heard/watched “Boston Public Radio” featured Dr. Mario Motta and Kelly Beatty for an in-depth look at light pollution’s causes and consequences, as well as the status of state and local efforts to regulate outdoor lighting. It was a great opportunity to educate listeners and viewers about light pollution in the Greater Boston area — and to showcase the efforts of DarkSky Massachusetts.

Click here to see video of the interview on WGBH’s YouTube channel, or click here to listen on the “Here and Now” website (interview starts 1:44:40 into the program).

Hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan were full of questions about the effect of nighttime lighting on human health and the nocturnal environment. Motta explained how melatonin, a natural hormone secreted by the brain’s pineal gland primarily when it’s dark, is disrupted when we expose ourselves to strong light at night. Melatonin helps regulate our circadian (sleep-wake) cycle, and it’s also known to play a role in our immune system — though the exact function is not yet clear.

Beatty and Motta also explained how the blue component of light at night is especially harmful to many other aspects of the nocturnal environment. For example, they explored blue light’s negative role in bird migration, nighttime pollinators, visual acuity, and skyglow that masks the stars at night.

The wide-ranging conversation also explored how scores of towns in the state have enacted outdoor-lighting regulations, and how the uphill fight continues to get our legislature to approve common-sense requirements for stare- and municipally-funded lighting projects.