OZONE
Ozone is the natural barrier to Ultra Violet rays. Ozone is an element in the upper atmosphere. It is made up of three parts of oxygen. The main culprit in its depletion is chloroflouro carbons, or CFC's. While these are harmless in the lower atmosphere, as they rise into the stratosphere, solar rays break the CFC's down and they release pure chlorine. When this chlorine reaches the ozone layer, it causes a chemical reaction. The chlorine combines with one atom of oxygen to create chlorine monoxide. The remaining atoms of oxygen from the original molecule of ozone do not have the ability to absorb UV rays.

Between 1980 and the year 2000 it's projected that the amount of stratospheric chlorine will double. Action has been taken as many industrialized nations have banned CFC's by the year 2000. But still major population centers release CFC's into the air in the form of refrigerants, solvents, insecticides and the like.

This depletion is not without serious side effects for sun lovers. In Australia, for example, where the ozone layer is thinnest during their summer months, skin cancer will effect 2 out of 3 people. It's so serious that Australia has enacted some of the most stringent sun care regulations in the world.

The sun causes 95% of all skin cancers, of which there are 1/2 million cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. However, use of sun screens and blocks can reduce the risk significantly.  Properly controlled, sunshine is good for us both physically and psychologically. Sunshine causes the body to produce Vitamin D, essential to healthy living. Breast and colon cancers in sunny climates are half those in less sunny areas. Depression rates are lower in sunny climates than in colder climates.

"Sensible sun care" is the answer to the problem of sunburns, premature aging and sun-related skin diseases.