Michigan Dark sky expert weighs in on light pollution as data center concern
CASS COUNTY, Mich. -- More and more Michiana communities are dealing with artificial intelligence data centers.
Dowagiac residents pressed the Hyperscale Data Center's CEO Monday night about the constant noise at the site that sparked a class-action lawsuit from a group of neighbors even before the company's planned expansion.
Among the list of concerns is another, not so talked about one that local experts are sounding the alarm on.
On a clear, dark night, you can find Cass County resident Robert Parrish at the Dr. Lawless Dark Sky Park in Vandalia, Michigan.
"I like to say that the beauty of our park doesn't end when the sun goes down, because the other half of the park is the stars at night," says Robert Parrish, a Dark Sky International Delegate.
Parrish has been able to capture incredible images of the night sky through his telescope at the park.
"When you realize the vastness of our universe, you're just nothing but a speck of dust really," Parrish says.
He's starting to worry, though.
Recent readings at the park on his Sky Quality Meter are telling him one thing: the dark sky he's admired since childhood is losing its darkness.
"It goes up to 22.00, and the higher the number, the more darkness you have," explains Parrish. "And I've noticed over the last couple of years, our darkness is starting to wane a little bit."
He points to the other side of the state line, northern Indiana, as the main source.
"Data centers are notorious for throwing a lot of extra light into the sky," Parrish says.
As more data centers take shape across Michiana's farmlands, Parrish is sounding the alarm about light pollution; not just for the sake of the dark sky, but for human and environmental health.
A study by the American Health Association points to light pollution causing an uptick in hormonally linked cancers due to melatonin suppression.
In the same study, researchers say light pollution's impact on the ecosystem is damaging; with birds, insects, and mammals hit especially hard by excessive outdoor light at night.
"They don't think of it as the same way as water pollution, air pollution, or ground pollution, but it is a pollutant," says Parrish.
Parrish says people living near data centers should handle the excessive light similarly to excessive noise, like in Dowagiac, and treat it as a nuisance.
But with most pollutants it starts at home, too.
"They don't understand how easily it can be corrected, one of the most easy ways: turn off the switch, turn off the switch," Parrish advises.
Microsoft is building a data center right now in Granger along Cleveland Road within three miles of the state line.
According to a 2023 fact sheet from the company, it says its data centers will be lit with consideration to light pollution.
The International Dark Sky Association has lighting suggestions for data center developers, like using motion sensor lights and prioritizing warmer color temperatures.