Worldwide variations in artificial skyglow.

Despite constituting a widespread and significant environmental change, understanding of artificial nighttime skyglow is extremely limited. Until now, published monitoring studies have been local or regional in scope, and typically of short duration. In this first major international compilation of monitoring data we answer several key questions about skyglow properties.

Skin cancer risks avoided by the Montreal Protocol--worldwide modeling integrating coupled climate-chemistry models with a risk model for UV.

The assessment model for ultraviolet radiation and risk "AMOUR" is applied to output from two chemistry-climate models (CCMs). Results from the UK Chemistry and Aerosols CCM are used to quantify the worldwide skin cancer risk avoided by the Montreal Protocol and its amendments: by the year 2030, two million cases of skin cancer have been prevented yearly, which is 14% fewer skin cancer cases per year. In the "World Avoided," excess skin cancer incidence will continue to grow dramatically after 2030.

Calculations of the human vitamin D exposure from UV spectral measurements at three European stations.

The health benefits of solar UVB and vitamin D in reducing the risk of cancer and several other diseases have been well documented in recent years. In this study, quality-checked spectral UV irradiance measurements from three European stations (Jokioinen, Finland; Bilthoven, The Netherlands; and Thessaloniki, Greece) are used and the vitamin D effective dose (VDED) is calculated. The maximum average daily VDED is measured during the second half of June and it is up to 250 times higher than the corresponding winter minimum value.

Improving solar ultraviolet irradiance measurements by applying a temperature correction method for Teflon diffusers.

To establish trends in surface ultraviolet radiation levels, accurate and stable long-term measurements are required. The accuracy level of today's measurements has become high enough to notice even smaller effects that influence instrument sensitivity. Laboratory measurements of the sensitivity of the entrance optics have shown a decrease of as much as 0.

Exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation in young Dutch children: assessment by means of a 6-week retrospective questionnaire.

We designed a 6-week retrospective questionnaire on sunlight exposure. Estimation of the short-term exposure to sunlight is important for observational human studies concerning the effects of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the human immune system and related resistance to infections. This questionnaire was given to the parents of 1672 1-year-old children in the Netherlands who participated in a birth cohort study.