NEWS RELEASE For Release March 15, 1993 Roger or Kathy Cox (303) 641-5035 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, (303) 641-5035. 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. (303) 641-5035. ###