The new analysis shows, for example, that at one line of latitude — 32.5 degrees — a line that runs through central Texas in the northern hemisphere and the country of Uruguay in the southern hemisphere, 305 nanometer UV levels have gone up by some 6 percent on average since 1979.
But many have wondered, is the sun getting stronger? It's a question News 8 wanted to VERIFY. According to Scripps Atmospheric Scientist Ray Weiss the answer is no, even though it feels that way. He says it's not that the sun is stronger, but rather the ozone layer is thinner meaning more UV rays are coming through.
Australia has some of the highest levels of UV radiation in the world – in fact, UV radiation is strong enough to cause sunburn in as little as 11 minutes on a fine summer day. UV radiation from the sun is also one of the best natural sources for vitamin D so a balance is important.
During summer, the Earth's orbit brings Australia closer to the sun (as compared to Europe during its summer), resulting in an additional 7% solar UV intensity. Coupled with our clearer atmospheric conditions, this means that Australians are exposed to up to 15% more UV than Europeans.
The depletion of the ozone layer leads, on the average, to an increase in ground-level ultraviolet radiation, because ozone is an effective absorber of ultraviolet radiation. The Sun emits radiation over a wide range of energies, with about 2% in the form of high-energy, ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Credit: NASA's Earth Observatory/Robert Simmon NASA scientists analyzing 30 years of satellite data have found that the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching Earth's surface has increased markedly over the last three decades.
UV problem of another kind
"Tasmania is unique with the fact that in summer it gets to extreme level, and in winter it doesn't even get to moderate," Mr Carr said.
More about ozone layer depletion
This includes a five to nine per cent depletion over Australia since the 1960s, which has increased the risk that Australians already face from over-exposure to UV radiation resulting from our outdoor lifestyle.
Australia experiences high levels of UVR, resulting from the reduction in their ozone layer since the 1970s.
New Zealand's rather cool and temperate temperatures can easily hide the harmful effects of the sun. Yet in any season and any weather, the New Zealand sun can burn. Many people say they get more sunburned in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world, even Australia!
Australia experiences some of the highest levels of UV radiation in the world because we are close to the equator and have many clear, blue-sky days.
Bila (also occasionally rendered Belah) is the personification of the Sun among the Adnyamathanha people. She is a solar goddess, as befitting the general trends among Australian aboriginal peoples, which largely perceive the Sun as female.
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 4:25 p.m. EDT on Oct. 2, 2022. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy.
Over the past 4.5 billion years, the Sun has gotten hotter, but also less massive. The solar wind, as we measure it today, is roughly constant over time. There are the occasional flares and mass ejections, but they barely factor into the Sun's overall rate at which it loses mass.
The sun started out about 70% as bright as today. It slowly grew brighter; even two billion years ago (2.5 billion years after the Earth formed), the sun was still just 85% as bright as today. On its own, the faint young sun could not have kept the Earth from freezing over.
Ozone Layer Hole is Healing, But Australian Wildfires Threaten Progress. While the ozone layer hole is healing and on the path to recovery by 2060, currently measuring about 7.6 million square miles, wildfire smoke from Australia's Black Summer has destroyed 1% of the ozone layer, a recent assessment found.
As the ozone hole over the south pole breaks up in spring, pockets of ozone depleted air drift across Tasmania, southern Victoria and the southern part of New Zealand's south island.
The earth's ozone layer is on track to repair itself in four decades. Researchers have even found a significant thickening of the ozone layer compared to 2018 levels, according to a report released yesterday (Jan. 9) by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
On Dec. 29, 2003, a world-record UV index of 43.3 was detected at Bolivia's Licancabur volcano. The UV index is used to forecast the strength of the sun's ultraviolet rays.
Does the Antarctic Ozone Hole ever come over Australia? No. The ozone hole has only ever been observed to be well south of the Australian mainland and Tasmania. In fact, during springtime, when the hole is in existence, ozone levels over southern Australian cities are at their highest.
UV radiation is generally affected by changes in the stratospheric ozone and global climate change. Decreased stratospheric ozone allows more UVB (the higher-frequency, more harmful type of UV) to reach the Earth's surface.
UV radiation has also been implicated as a contributor to global warming through its stimulation of volatile organic compounds from plants, plant litter and soils. Emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) from plant litter and soils may also contribute to global warming.
UV rays cannot be seen or felt, but they are very powerful and change the chemical structure of molecules. UV radiation plays a small role in global warming because its quantity is not enough to cause the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere.