A team of American and German scientists coordinated by planetary geologist Nathalie A. Cabrol, from NASA’s AMES Research Center and the SETI Institute, has measured the highest levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation ever recorded in the Bolivian Andes. the earth’s surface.
These are so high that, in fact, they are well above what is normally considered harmful to life.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science , also highlights that the analyzed area is not located in Antarctica, where the holes in the ozone layer that are usually related to this phenomenon or have been a problem for decades, but in the tropic , just over 2,000 kilometers from the equator, in an area dotted with small populations.
The measurements were made between 2003 and 2004, near the Licancabur volcano, on the border between Chile and Bolivia, and in Laguna Blanca, in the southwest of the latter country.
In both enclaves, which are located at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters , ozone is naturally low, so when the sun is close to the zenith, high levels of irradiation are usually produced. However, the scientists point out that the intensity of the ultraviolet B radiation they have captured is unprecedented.
“A UV index of 11 is considered extremely high. Well, in these places it has gone from 26 in recent years, ” says Cabrol. “But it is that on December 29, 2003 it reached 43! In one of our beaches we could reach 8 or 9 in summer, which would force us to protect ourselves.
Simply, no one would want to be in the open if it exceeded 30 ”, he emphasizes. These types of phenomena affect the entire biosphere, as they damage DNA, alter photosynthesis and reduce the chances that larvae and eggs will thrive.
Specifically, this intense radiation flux has coincided in time with other phenomena that could have increased it, such as the fall in ozone levels due to storms and intense fires that have affected this region and perhaps also as a consequence of a powerful solar deflagration occurred two weeks before the largest peak was recorded.
According to Cabrol, “although it is not directly related to climate change, this allows us to estimate what could happen if ozone were to decrease drastically globally. The thinner and more unstable the layer it forms, the easier it is for something like this to take place ”.
FOTO: Alexander Zotov / Fotolia
