Urban night sky brightness is primarily caused by artificial light pollution scattering through the lower atmosphere
the verdict
SUPPORTED
the evidence backs this
confidence 87/100
Evidence from multiple studies confirms that urban night sky brightness (skyglow) is caused by artificial light scattering through the Earth's lower atmosphere, involving interactions with air molecules, aerosols, and clouds.
Evidence for · 3
The propagation of light pollution in the atmosphere
2012 · cited by 92
Paper 0 details radiative transfer and scattering models (such as Extended Garstang Models) used to calculate how artificial light propagates through the atmosphere to create night sky brightness.
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More for · 2
Air pollution mitigation can reduce the brightness of the night sky in and near cities.
2021 · cited by 12
Paper 2 notes that skyglow is the direct result of outdoor artificial light at night interacting with atmospheric scattering from air pollutants like aerosols.
The nature of the diffuse light near cities detected in nighttime satellite imagery.
2020 · cited by 11
Paper 3 demonstrates that diffuse glow around cities, often detected in satellite imagery, represents real atmospheric scattering of urban light.