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Trying to explain this to people visiting Australia is always amazing. "It's so lovely and sunny here, why aren't you tan?" "Because the sun is a terrifying r
by dragonsngoblins 8y ago
Trying to explain this to people visiting Australia is always amazing.
"It's so lovely and sunny here, why aren't you tan?"
"Because the sun is a terrifying ray of pain and death here."
- dwd 8y agoThe sooner we completely phase out CFCs and other stratospheric ozone depleting gases, the sooner we can go back to the good old days where you could enjoy that sunshine. The prediction is 2050-2070 we will be back to the 1980 level of ozone thickness.
- lazyasciiart 8y agoScientists have been trying to combat the perception that it is to blame for the high prevalence of skin cancer in Australia for a couple of decades now - it will never be a good idea to 'enjoy that sunshine' the way people used to. (2001 paper - https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6944/503469e4f779e99884e144fd679f58a82966.pdf https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6944/503469e4f779e99884e144... " Sufferers of skin cancer today should more likely blame their affliction on skin type and sun exposure during their youth than any changes in ozone distributions over the last twenty years. Therefore it is safe to say that even without ozone depletion, Australia would still have a very high rate of skin cancer.")
- refurb 8y agoWasn't the worst of the ozone thinning over the poles? Not sure the ozone layer actually affects sun exposure in Australia or NZ.
- lazyasciiart 8y agoOver Antarctica, yes. But in some conditions (right winds? I forget) thinner patches of ozone do blow over the south coast of Australia, and does increase UV exposure.
- dwd 8y agoCan't agree more. It was pretty crazy in the 70s/80s. You had people literally baking themselves in the sun with tanning oils. Even after "Slip Slop Slap" was first promoted in the early 80s everyone was still trying to get a tan.