What are the human health effects of increased UV-B light?
From the outset it should be pointed out that human behavior is of primary importance when considering the health risks of sun exposure. Taking proper precautions, such as covering up exposed skin, using sunscreen, and staying out of the sun during peak sun hours is of far greater significance to health than the increased UV-B due to ozone loss is likely to be. A reduction in ozone of 1% leads to increases of up to 3% in some forms of non-melanoma skin cancer (UNEP, 1998). It is more difficult to quantify a link between ozone loss and malignant melanoma, which accounts for about 4% of skin cancer cases, but causes about 79% of skin cancer deaths. Current research has shown that melanoma can increase with both increased UV-B and UV-A light, but the relationship is not well understood (UNEP, 2002). In the U.S. in 2003, approximately 54,200 persons will have new diagnoses of melanoma, and 7,600 will die from the disease, and more than 1 million new cases of the other two skin cancers, bas
