Prague, Feb 8 (CTK) – The Jizerske hory mountain range, north Bohemia, was declared a “dark sky area” as the first locality in the world in 2009, but its prestigious status has been undermined now that several giant shining greenhouses have appeared across the border in Poland, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) wrote on Monday.
The mountains were declared a dark sky area as a unique place where no lights disturb the observation of the night sky.
However, the times of valuable darkness are over now that the nearby Polish greenhouses shine wide in the night as intensively as a city with 100,000 inhabitants, the daily writes.
The shine disturbs both local people and nature, and the situation might further deteriorate in the future as the greenhouses, belonging to the Polish Citronex company, are to be ten-times extended, the daily writes.
“This is a significant interference in the environment in our border zone. If the weather is cloudy, it looks as if lights were shining above the Frydlant area. Unfortunately, the Poles do what they want,” Dan Ramzer, mayor of Frydlant, one of the Czech northernmost towns, is quoted as saying.
Local inhabitants were initially scared by the light. Some of them called a regional emergency team as they feared that the Polish power plant Turow was on fire.
Environmentalists say the light pollution harms animals.
If the Poles further extended the greenhouses, the harm would even increase. Unfortunately, no law deals with such situations, said Jiri Husek, from the Czech Agency for Nature and Landscape Protection.
Citronex has left MfD’s questions unanswered.
The astronomers, who previously initiated the declaration of the local dark sky area, are disappointed most of all.
This is a horrible case of light pollution, Pavel Suchan, from the Czech Astronomic Institute, told the paper.
“I consider it shameful,” he said.
He said the astronomers, together with local towns’ mayors, plan to file a complaint with the Environment Ministry.
