From Frontiers
A team of researchers in the U.S. and Germany has measured the highest level of ultraviolet radiation ever recorded on the Earth’s surface. The extraordinary UV fluxes, observed in the Bolivian Andes only 1,500 miles from the equator, are far above those normally considered to be harmful to both terrestrial and aquatic life. The results are being published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Environmental Science.
“These record-setting levels were not measured in Antarctica, where ozone holes have been a recurring problem for decades,” says team leader Nathalie A. Cabrol of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center. “This is in the tropics, in an area where there are small towns and villages.”
The measurements were made in the southern hemisphere summer of 2003 and 2004, using instruments developed for the European Light Dosimeter Network (Eldonet). They were undertaken as Cabrol’s team was investigating high altitude Andean lakes as part of an astrobiology study of Mars-like environments. Dosimeters were deployed on the summit of the towering Licancabur volcano (altitude: 5,917 meters) and at nearby Laguna Blanca (altitude 4,340 meters). The combination of a midday sun near the zenith, as well as the high elevation of these sites, produces higher irradiance levels because of naturally low ozone in such locations. But these intensities of short-wavelength UV-B radiation (280 – 315 nm) are unprecedented.
“A UV index of 11 is considered extreme, and has reached up to 26 in nearby locations in recent years,” notes Cabrol. “But on December 29, 2003, we measured an index of 43. If you’re at a beach in the U.S., you might experience an index of 8 or 9 during the summer, intense enough to warrant protection. You simply do not want to be outside when the index reaches 30 or 40.”
The intense radiation coincided with other circumstances that may have increased the UV flux, including ozone depletion by increased aerosols from both seasonal storms and fires in the area. In addition, a large solar flare occurred just two weeks before the highest UV fluxes were registered. Ultraviolet spikes continued to occur – albeit at lower intensity – throughout the period of solar instability, and stopped thereafter. While the evidence linking the solar event to the record-breaking radiation is only circumstantial, particles from such flares are known to affect atmospheric chemistry and may have increased ozone depletion.
“While these events are not directly tied to climate change, they are sentinels of what could occur if ozone thins globally,” Cabrol says. “The thinner and more unstable the ozone, the more prone we will be to this kind of event.”
High UV-B exposure negatively affects the entire biosphere, not just humans. It damages DNA, affects photosynthesis, and decreases the viability of eggs and larvae. For these reasons, it is important to keep a close watch on UV flux levels.
“While this unsettling record might be the result of a ‘perfect storm’ of events, it could happen again,” says Cabrol, “because the factors that caused it are not rare. What we need is more monitoring of the ozone changes in these areas. These fluxes, which are comparable to those of early Mars, are occurring in a populated area.”
David Black, president and CEO of the SETI Institute, notes that “this is an excellent example of how astrobiology – which includes understanding the atmospheres of other planets – is germane to contemporary concerns here on Earth.”
Note to editors
Article title: Record Solar UV Irradiance in the Tropical Andes
DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2014.00019
Journal: Frontiers in Environmental Science
For a copy of the embargoed paper, please contact Gozde Zorlu: press@frontiersin.org
For online articles, please link to the paper which will become freely available at the following: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fenvs.2014.00019/abstract
Another potential source for the UV increase is the rapid decrease in the Magnetic Polar Field that is occuring n the western hemisphere.
http://www.livescience.com/46694-magnetic-field-weakens.html
From LiveScience
Earth’s magnetic field, which protects the planet from huge blasts of deadly solar radiation, has been weakening over the past six months, according to data collected by a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite array called Swarm.
The biggest weak spots in the magnetic field — which extends 370,000 miles (600,000 kilometers) above the planet’s surface — have sprung up over the Western Hemisphere, while the field has strengthened over areas like the southern Indian Ocean, according to the magnetometers onboard the Swarm satellites — three separate satellites floating in tandem.
The scientists who conducted the study are still unsure why the magnetic field is weakening, but one likely reason is that Earth’s magnetic poles are getting ready to flip, said Rune Floberghagen, the ESA’s Swarm mission manager. In fact, the data suggest magnetic north is moving toward Siberia.
“Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred if not a few thousand years,” Floberghagen told Live Science. “They have happened many times in the past.”[50 Amazing Facts About Planet Earth]
Scientists already know that magnetic north shifts. Once every few hundred thousand years the magnetic poles flip so that a compass would point south instead of north. While changes in magnetic field strength are part of this normal flipping cycle, data from Swarm have shown the field is starting to weaken faster than in the past. Previously, researchers estimated the field was weakening about 5 percent per century, but the new data revealed the field is actually weakening at 5 percent per decade, or 10 times faster than thought. As such, rather than the full flip occurring in about 2,000 years, as was predicted, the new data suggest it could happen sooner.
Who ever flew on an aircraft during daylight hours on Dec 29 2003 had a serious dose of radiation.
Cancer!!
Steven Mosher says (July 9, 2014 at 8:15 am): “i love the snark and snide comments on the thread.”
Me, too! JJ’s (July 8, 2014 at 9:31 pm) was a classic!
Bryan A: three separate satellites floating in tandem.
If there’s three of them, it’s not in tandem.
Hey, mods ! What on Earth was wrong with that last post that it got held back?
What’s the news here? The article is 10 year old and every mountain climber and mountain gliding pilot knows high altitude means high UV exposure and freezing cold so they take their measures. I for example cover my nose with a piece of aluminum foil taped to my sunglasses. Makes you look like a zombie but it’s very effective. Everything else is coverd.
As for the article, I’m getting sick and tired from all the alarmist crap.
Greg says:
July 9, 2014 at 10:59 am
Bryan A: three separate satellites floating in tandem.
If there’s three of them, it’s not in tandem.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/in+tandem
IN TANDEM
[of two or more things] in single file. We marched to the door in tandem. They rode along in tandem.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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But then I didn’t write the copy I just copied the writing
“””””…..JJ says:
July 8, 2014 at 9:31 pm
Richard Day says:
Germany demolished Brazil 7-1 today in the World Cup.
I’m sorry, but that is not correct…….””””””
Well Copa Mundial soccer, makes even basketball look exciting.
But somebody should explain the scoring rules to the USA team and their German coach.
It’s pretty simple. In soccer you have two sets of nets; one at each end of the field.
At one end of the field, if you kick the ball into the net (as opposed to over it, or around it, or bounce it off the bars), then that is called a “goal” and for each goal, they add one point (1) to your team score.
At the other end of the field, if you stop the ball from going into the net, that is called a “save”, and for each save, they add zero points to your team score.
Students of the game say the best strategy for winning the game, is to take the ball down to the goal end of the field, and kick it into the net, as distinct from kicking it over the net, or around the net, or bouncing it off the bars. If the “goalie” at that end, stops the ball kicked by one of your team mates, and throws it back to you,. while he lies prone on the ground, then you should kick the ball into the net, for a goal.
Most experienced players and coaches, say that it is difficult to win a game, by keeping the ball down at the “save” net, and racking up 25 or more “saves”, which adds 25 or more zeros to your score, but doesn’t give you any goals, which count as one point.
Given that games can be won, by kicking goals, an astute coach would give his team players, kicking instruction, on how to tell which is “in” the net, and which is “over” the net, and which is “around” the net.. More time should be spent learning how to kick the ball into the net, and less time on how to dance around the ball as if you are doing a Highland sword dance around the ball. This is not an effective way to stop the other team from kicking the ball, from under your feet, into your “saves” net, which is the same as their “goals” net.
If you don’t play to get more saves, instead of more goals, the ball will seldom be near the other team’s “goals” net.
So these are the best players in the entire world, and they can’t kick the ball into the “goals” net, to save their lives.
I suggest a rules change.
Start the game with alternating penalty kicks, one on one, until after even pairs, one team has one more point (penalty goals) than the other team. Then put up that team as the pre-game winner by one goal.
Then send the players out onto the field, for two 45 minute halves, and if at the end of the 90 minutes, the two game scores are even, then the winner is the team that got the extra pregame penalty goal. If after 90 minutes one team has more goals than the other (either team) then the pre-game penalty score is erased.
For more exciting basketball, I would give each team 90 points, and then give them two minutes to play the game, to see who wins.
Earth’s Magnetic Field Is Weakening 10 Times Faster Now
http://www.livescience.com/46694-magnetic-field-weakens.html
Back to the future ozone hole.
Did any check to make sure the instruments were appropriately calibrated? Before and after the measurements were taken? If so, were the measurements within the calibrated range of the instrument? What effect might the elevation have played on the instruments/measurements? Was this accounted for? Were the scientists appropriately trained in the operation of the instruments and were they using them according the OEM’s instructions?
otropogo says:
July 9, 2014 at 7:45 am … bla bla bla, snide… sneer… those lacking in skin pigment… bla bla bla .
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What ?
Supposedly, melanin reflects UV. Dark skin would look silvery-white in a UV camera; white skin absorbs UV, and would look black. Just sayin’.