National Geographic - November, 2008:

"Our Vanishing Night"

Excerpt:

"In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars,
leaving behind a vacant haze that mirrors our fear of the dark and resembles
the urban glow of dystopian science fiction. We've grown so used to this
pervasive orange haze that the original glory of an unlit night‹dark enough
for the planet Venus to throw shadows on Earth‹is wholly beyond our
experience, beyond memory almost. And yet above the city's pale ceiling lies
the rest of the universe, utterly undiminished by the light we waste‹a
bright shoal of stars and planets and galaxies, shining in seemingly
infinite darkness.

We've lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing
could be further from the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of
nocturnal species is astonishing. Light is a powerful biological force, and
on many species it acts as a magnet, a process being studied by researchers
such as Travis Longcore and Catherine Rich, co-founders of the Los
Angeles-based Urban Wildlands Group. The effect is so powerful that
scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being 'captured' by searchlights
on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms, circling
and circling in the thousands until they drop. Migrating at night, birds are
apt to collide with brightly lit tall buildings; immature birds on their
first journey suffer disproportionately."

More ... and photos:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-pollution/klinkenborg-text