28 June 2011 | General, ESSEM
Preparing for the summer sun...
...also means being aware of the dangers of ultraviolet (UV) rays which can cause sunburn and skin cancer. It has been reported that parts of the world is going to experience extra high levels of UV this year, due to record levels ozone loss above the Arctic last winter.
COST Action 726 'Long term changes and climatology of UV radiation over Europe' has advanced the understanding of UV ray distribution in Europe determining UV radiation climatology and assessing UV changes over Europe. Since UV solar radiation plays an important role in many processes in the biosphere, including the influence on human organisms and may be very harmful if UV exposure exceeds "safe" limits, the knowledge of biologically effective UV radiation doses and their geographical distribution and climatology in Europe is crucial for the European population.
Ending in 2009, COST Action 726 has made a valuable contribution to this area of research. Their findings can be found on the Action website.
