Highest UV radiation value of all times measured

Highest UV radiation value of all times measured

09/07/2014

UV radiation is considered one of the main causes of skin cancer. Even with a UV index of 8, the highest sunburn risk applies in Germany. Researchers have now reported from the Bolivian Andes the highest ever recorded on the surface of the earth: 43.3.

Highest ever recorded on the Earth's surface value
The highest UV radiation ever recorded on the Earth's surface was measured by researchers in the Bolivian Andes. In December 2003, the team from the USA and Germany - during the summer in the southern hemisphere - determined a UV index of 43.3. This was reported by the scientists in the journal „Frontiers in Environmental Science“. For comparison, co-author Uwe Feister of the Richard Aßmann Observatory of the German Weather Service in Brandenburg Lindenberg referred to Germany. Accordingly, the values ​​for ultraviolet radiation in summer climbed to 8 to 9 in this country.

UV radiation can cause skin cancer
People should already avoid the "UV index of 8 outdoor stays because the radiation can cause skin cancer". Values ​​from 11 are considered extreme. Higher levels of UV radiation increase the risk of sunburn, and thus the risk of skin cancer in the longer term. For example, childhood sunburn is considered the most important risk factor for black skin cancer (malignant melanoma). Experts therefore regularly advise "not exposing yourself to strong sunlight, wearing suitable clothing, headgear and sunglasses and using sunscreen".

Environmental conditions like on Mars
The researchers around the astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol of SETI Institute of the US Space Agency Nasa wanted to investigate environmental conditions such as on Mars. The scientists set up two dosimeters in Bolivia near the border with Chile, at the summit of a volcano at about 5,900 meters altitude and at Lake Laguna Blanca (4,340 meters). On December 29, 2003, the devices on the mountain measured radiation equivalent to the UV index 43.3. On other days, values ​​up to 32 were reached.

Maybe a gigantic solar flare has contributed to the extreme radiation
As the researchers write, "the extreme UV-B radiation is the result of several circumstances: the high altitude, the zenith standing sun and the influx of ozone-depleted air masses and possibly also ozone-damaging gases." Even a "gigantic solar flare could have contributed to the extreme radiation, since on 4 November 2003, the strongest outbreak so far on the sun has been recorded." Particles of solar eruptions can "affect the atmosphere and damage the ozone layer protecting the earth from UV radiation".

Political tensions have delayed publication
With climatologists predicting that the tropospheric ozone layer will continue to thin over the next few years and decades due to climate change, such UV records could be more prevalent. Among other things, political reasons made the study public more than a decade after the survey. The researchers wanted to review the results and set up new dosimeters, but researchers could not return because of tensions between the US and Bolivia, Cabrol said. On the Chilean side, control measurements were only completed in 2009. (Ad)