Kids Cube/7_Science.iso/stp300/uvnews.txt

Text File | 1993-03-31 | 6KB | 121 lines

                                NEWS RELEASE
                                For Release March 15, 1993
                                Roger or Kathy Cox [phone]
SAVE THE PLANET SOFTWARE
P.O. Box 45, Pitkin, CO 81241  U.S.A.

        HOW MUCH SPRING SUNSHINE WILL YOU GET?

    NEW SOFTWARE MONITORS ULTRAVIOLET (UV) EXPOSURE

      With the stratospheric ozone shield becoming thinner,
the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays are now stronger.
UV B-Ware is a computer program that delivers specific
UV and sunburn predictions for individuals, tailored to
their lifestyle, location, and schedule of outdoor
activities, based on actual NASA satellite ozone measurements.
The newly released PC-compatible package was
developed by Save the Planet Software, a Colorado company
specializing in environmental software.

      Designed for people with an active outdoor lifestyle
or families with young children who spend a lot of time
in the sun, UV B-Ware(tm) is a database and calculator
that makes specific forecasts of UV levels and sunburn
times, for specific locations, times of the year, and
time of the day.  Detailed seasonal ozone trends, calculated
from 13 years of Nimbus-7 ozone data, for over 525
locations (including 350 cities in the US and Canada), are
used to make the projections.

      "The program calculates UV intensity levels and
displays the results on an easy-to-understand scale of
1 to 10", explains Roger Cox, who with his wife Kathy,
wrote the software package.  Sunburn times are calculated
as the number of minutes of exposure to produce the first
reddening of untanned Caucasian skin.  The program
also contains a valuable reference section entitled,
"Personal UV Protection", containing over 40 ideas, UV
protection products for your eyes and skin, and suggestions
for protecting your family from the health hazards
of overexposure to UV radiation.  Health risks besides
sunburn include: skin cancers, eye cataracts, and immune
system damage.  Kathy continues, "UV B-Ware calculates the
intensity of the UVB (Ultraviolet-B type) spectrum
of radiation that occurs between the wavelengths of 280 and
320 nanometers.  This band of UV is particularly
damaging to human cells, causing DNA damage, leading to
skin cancers or eventual blindness if eye cataracts
are not treated.  As UVB levels increase, it is
especially important to make sure that children are well protected
and avoid bad sunburns.  Many cases of fatal melanoma
cancer are thought be triggered by bad childhood or
teenage sunburns."

   UV B-Ware software will calculate a variety of
additional solar and UV exposure information:
    . The time each day the sun is the strongest
(solar noon), for a given location
    . Hourly UVB intensity graph display
    . Total UVB dosage for any day at any location,
any time of the year
    . Number of hours of sunshine for any time of year,
along with sunrise/sunset times, given in local time
    . Percentage of increase (or decrease) in UVB levels
for any date & location, relative to 1980 levels
    . Predicted ozone, UVB, and sunburn levels for any
future date to the year 2010
    . Personalized total annual UV dosage for any year,
based on an individual's lifestyle and location profile,
as supplied by the user.

      "Our goal with the UV B-Ware program was to take
the vast amount of global ozone data NASA has
collected and develop a useful subset as a personal
database so that individuals can quickly estimate the
increased UV exposure risks that they will encounter
in their hometown and at locations where they spend
vacation time.  Because of recent ozone depletion, UV
levels are generally higher in the spring months over large
portions of North America," concludes Roger.  "It is
easier to get a sunburn now than it was 10 or 15 years ago".

      Using the UV B-Ware program, here are some
projected UVB levels for April 7, 1993:

Location                UV Index    Sunburn Time      UV Level Change
                                                      since 1980
Aspen, Colorado         6.2         22 min            21.5 % increase
Boston, Mass.           5.1         26 min            11.0 % increase
Burlington, Vermont     4.8         28 min            15.2 % increase
Chicago, Illinois       5.2         26 min             8.5 % increase
Grand Canyon NP, AZ     6.9         19 min            21.0 % increase
Kansas City, MO         5.9         23 min            15.5 % increase
Mazatlan, Mexico        9.5         14 min            -4.2 % (decrease)
Montreal, Quebec        4.5         29 min            11.8 % increase
Orlando, Florida        8.3         16 min            -5.6 % (decrease)
Salt Lake City, UT      5.9         23 min            24.4 % increase
San Diego, Calif.       7.4         18 min            13.9 % increase
Seattle, Washington     4.4         31 min            22.1 % increase

      The UV B-Ware software package runs on any MS-DOS
computer with 640K RAM and a hard disk drive
(requires 2.5 meg disk space), and is priced at US $39.95.
(Orders outside US and Canada MUST add $8.00 airmail shipping.)

Contact SAVE THE PLANET SOFTWARE,
P.O. Box 45, Pitkin, CO 81241, [phone].

NOTE:  Save the Planet publishes 4 environmental software programs:

 - SAVE THE PLANET $24.95
 - IMAGES OF A CHANGING PLANET $15.00
 - ECOMAP $19.95
 - UV B-WARE (tm) $39.95

Only SAVE THE PLANET is shareware, the other 3 programs are available
only in commercial versions.  Please order all programs directly from
Save the Planet Software. [phone].

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