--- title: Light Pollution: Third of the World Can't See the Milky Way description: Light pollution prevents a third of the world's population from seeing the Milky Way from their homes, according to new research canonical: https://time.com/4364938/milky-way-light-pollution/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-10T21:27:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:54.785Z article:section: Science og:title: One-Third of the World's Population Can't See the Milky Way og:description: Because of light pollution og:url: https://time.com/4364938/milky-way-light-pollution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc2daea80bd7997/6988975a0b72e3304e6e9c31/milky-way.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: milky-way og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: One-Third of the World's Population Can't See the Milky Way twitter:description: Because of light pollution twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc2daea80bd7997/6988975a0b72e3304e6e9c31/milky-way.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # One-Third of the World's Population Can't See the Milky Way Thanks to Light Pollution  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 10, 2016 9:27 PM UTC  The Milky Way over Dinosaur National Park. The Milky Way over Dinosaur National Park.Dan Duriscoe—AAS  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 10, 2016 9:27 PM UTC Light pollution prevents a third of the world’s population from seeing the [Milky Way](http://time.com/4192441/milky-ways-galactic-neighbour-pink-local-group/) from their homes, according to new [research](http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/e1600377). Researchers behind the study, published in the journal _Science Advances_, found that 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans cannot see the [Milky Way](http://time.com/4277710/milky-way-supernova-expansion/). Light pollution, most common in densely populated urban areas, is the result of the artificial light humans create to illuminate roads, buildings and neighborhoods. Nearly everyone who lives in the U.S. and Europe experiences some level of light pollution.  North America in New World Atlas of Artificial Sky Brightness, as seen in Google Earth. Fabio Falchi et al.—AAAS Researchers are still working to understand the implications of light pollution for humans. Researchers say it may affect the human ability to see at night in normal conditions. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4364938/milky-way-light-pollution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4364938/milky-way-light-pollution/"},"headline":"One-Third of the World's Population Can't See the Milky Way Thanks to Light Pollution","datePublished":"2016-06-10T21:27:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:59:54.785Z","description":"That includes nearly 80% of North Americans","url":"https://time.com/4364938/milky-way-light-pollution/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc2daea80bd7997/6988975a0b72e3304e6e9c31/milky-way.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc2daea80bd7997/6988975a0b72e3304e6e9c31/milky-way.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"milky-way","caption":"The Milky Way over Dinosaur National Park. Credit: Photo by Dan Duriscoe","creditText":"Dan Duriscoe—AAS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4364938/milky-way-light-pollution/","name":"One-Third of the World's Population Can't See the Milky Way Thanks to Light Pollution"}}]}] ```