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A fair skinned person who "acclimates" by wearing a hat a couple of days then spends "all day" in the sun and water on the third day is going to be burned without sunscreen all year around.
Like Snikt, I am from CO. When I went to Maui I had a base tan and didn't burn but I did notice the intensity of the sun there and I agree to acclimating, sunscreen and paying attention. Here in CO people don't realize how strong the sun is especially when the go up in altitude. I suspect in part is due to the fact that it is cooler but people get some serious burns year round, along with dehydration issues, running into cold weather in the summer without adequate clothing etc. The weather can go form very nice to nasty quickly. (the saying here is if you don't like the weather wait a minute) Heed the warnings of those who live in the area.
A fair skinned person who "acclimates" by wearing a hat a couple of days then spends "all day" in the sun and water on the third day is going to be burned without sunscreen all year around.
Not me. Been doing this for DECADES. I don't know why, but it works for me and my daughter. Before I ever came to Hawaii I never could even tan here in MN.
Like Snikt, I am from CO. When I went to Maui I had a base tan and didn't burn but I did notice the intensity of the sun there and I agree to acclimating, sunscreen and paying attention. Here in CO people don't realize how strong the sun is especially when the go up in altitude. I suspect in part is due to the fact that it is cooler but people get some serious burns year round, along with dehydration issues, running into cold weather in the summer without adequate clothing etc. The weather can go form very nice to nasty quickly. (the saying here is if you don't like the weather wait a minute) Heed the warnings of those who live in the area.
The reason you burn more quickly in Colorado is because for every 1000 feet in altitude the UV rays are 3% stronger. In Denver you've got 21% less UV protection ... really watch out in Leadville.
The sun is much stronger in CO than HI, but ... Hiking around Volcano caught me off guard and I got burned
Since somebody revived this thread, somebody needs to correct the misinformation:
For a given altitude the same in both state, the sun is always stronger in HI. Because Volcano is 5000' elevation, comparable to Denvier, Snikt proved this himself.
The reason for this is the latitude, where essentially, the sun falls straighter and thus doesn't get attenuated as much. Also "Ozone also is naturally thinner in the tropics compared to the mid- and high-latitudes, so there is less ozone to absorb the UV radiation as it passes through the atmosphere." [http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/doc/uvradiation.html]
However, I am not certain how much the altitude offsets the latitude+thin ozone. Somebody metioned 3% more intensity per 1000' feet, but I don't know the equivalent amount per degree of latitude. Honolulu is 18 degrees further south or rather, Denver is almost twice as far from the equator.
This may be helpful, HI is higher and it is for the month of July but we are also high at high altitude. I am not sure about all of the why of it but the sun does catch people by surprise here. I think people don't realize the strength of the sun here and get burned when they visit. The air definitely gets thinner and visitors do tend to notice that in a negative way "gasping for air". Conversely, when our runners go to lower altitudes they do well. I didn't notice any of this when I was in HI even on top of Haleakala, of course that was only 10,000 something.
The lowest altitude in CO is 3,337 ft and that is out east most people live above that.
Quote-
"The reason you burn more quickly in Colorado is because for every 1000 feet in altitude the UV rays are 3% stronger. In Denver you've got 21% less UV protection ... really watch out in Leadville." unquote
.... or at the top of ski lifts or on top of a fourteener!
Since somebody revived this thread, somebody needs to correct the misinformation:
For a given altitude the same in both state, the sun is always stronger in HI. Because Volcano is 5000' elevation, comparable to Denvier, Snikt proved this himself.
To correct the correction, Kilauea Crater is listed by the USGS as being at 4,190' and the village itself is listed as 3,750' altitude. You have to drive miles upslope to hit 5,000'
For latitude to make a difference the sun would need to be considered a point source so you could get your angular difference. The rays from the sun come at the same angle for the entire earth. Otherwise the earth wouldn't have a umbra.
Where latitude comes into play is the number of hours of sunlight in a day. On the equator you get 12 hours of sun every day. Above a tropic you get more hours of sunlight in the summer than the winter.
To correct the correction, Kilauea Crater is listed by the USGS as being at 4,190' and the village itself is listed as 3,750' altitude. You have to drive miles upslope to hit 5,000'
My mistake, I've always thought it was 5000 not 4000. Now I know. It looks like only the Saddle road (and Mauna Kea Rd) and the Stainback Hwy (barely) are above 5000 on the Big Island. BTW, what's at the end of the Stainback Hwy, or what's along there?
I'll let somebody else correct Fredesch.
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I don't know why, but it works for me and my daughter. Before I ever came to Hawaii I never could even tan here in MN.
