sun damage | UVA

Even though the sun feels great on your skin, it causes premature skin aging, skin cancer, and various splotches, and wrinkles. The most obvious sign that we've damaged our skin is sunburn.

The sunlight reaching the earth contains ultraviolet radiation. Sunlight has UVA, UVB, and UVC waves.

UVC rays

Absorbed by the earth's ozone layer
Does not cause skin damage

UVB rays

causes sunburn
most damaging between 10am and 2pm
less intense during the winter months

UVA rays

penetrate deeply into the skin
present at all hours of the day
present during all seasons
causes long term damage to skin
does not cause "sunburn"

The above descriptions of UVA and UVB rays are important to understand when we discuss effective sunscreens later.

Reflected Sunlight

When you are on the beach or out on the water in a boat, the white beach sand and the surface of the water act like solar reflectors. UVA and UVB rays bounce off the sand and water and hit you from all sides and all angles. It's like being in a solar oven. That's why you will get sunburned even when you are under an umbrella.