Researchers at the University of Connecticut published a NASA-funded study in Nature in April 2026 establishing that artificial light on Earth increased by a net 16% between 2014 and 2022. The peer-reviewed analysis, based on more than 1.1 million satellite images taken over a nine-year period, also recorded a 34% overall rise in global radiance, partially offset by dimming in other regions.

The study found that the location and intensity of changes in night-time brightness became increasingly volatile due to the Covid-19 pandemic, light pollution regulations, and a global economic downturn. Lockdowns, a slowdown in industrial activity, and reduced tourism during the pandemic reduced night-time brightness in many areas during the early years of the decade.

Asia led all regions in brightening, with night-time light increasing in China and northern India along with urban development. West coast cities of the United States grew brighter as their populations increased, while much of the U.S. east coast showed dimming attributed to higher use of energy-efficient LEDs and economic restructuring.

Europe experienced dimming tied to efficiency regulations. France recorded a 33% dimming, including in Paris, coinciding with energy conservation measures. The United Kingdom experienced a 22% dimming of night-time brightness, and the Netherlands registered 21%. European nights dimmed sharply in 2022 during a regional energy crisis following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which also left visible signatures in night-time brightness in the affected region. Venezuela lost more than 26% of its night-time light during an economic collapse.

Satellite images were captured at approximately 1:30 a.m. local time every day of the study period by NASA's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. Zhe Zhu, co-author of the study and director of the university's Global Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory, and his team analyzed 1.16 million images pixel by pixel, filtering out interference from moonlight, clouds, and atmospheric effects. NASA posted visualizations of the brightening and dimming patterns online.

The imagery also revealed cycles of intense gas burn-offs, or flaring, over central U.S. regions, particularly the Permian Basin in Texas and North Dakota's Bakken Formation.

"It is a dynamic portrait of a species reshaping its environment in real time, building, destroying, conserving, and collapsing, often all at once. The world is not simply getting brighter. It is flickering," Zhu said.

Deborah Gordon, senior principal of the Rocky Mountain Institute's climate intelligence program, commented on the flaring findings. "Letting operators, investors, and insurers know that this is happening is a huge value proposition, both privately and publicly to the world. Understanding where gas is being wasted around the globe, and to have this data be public, is huge for energy, and economic and environmental security," Gordon said.