Ozone and UV

You can see from this figure that the North Island of New Zealand has the greatest ozone depletion of any place outside Antartica. If you want to become an expert on the topic, check out The Ozone Hole Tour. What this means for me is that the sun here is really intense. Even when it is not that warm, you can feel the sun burn into your skin. On December 20th, we awoke to frost on the ground, and yet I had a deeper tan than after three months of working in Virginia during the summer of 2004. If it is cold out, I put on sun screen. If it is cloudy, I put on sun screen. If it is raining, I put on sun screen. On clear days, the burn time for fair people is less than ten minutes.

The Ultraviolet Index (UVI) measures the intensity of the suns rays on a 1-10 scale. A 6 or higher means you need sun protection. A +, meaning over 10, means don't go outside. Every day this week has been a +. Only on cold rainy days do we get down to 9 or 10. You always have to be prepared.