The Sun is Different!

I have fought with myself for two days about posting this. I don't really know why....anyway I decided to put it out there anyway and see if any one else has experienced this.
I have sunbathed all of my life. My skin tans in the summer and I don't have to "lay out", but I do. I have had a pool for most of my life too. I get "brown as a biscuit" as the saying goes in my neck of the woods.
Over the years of swimming, sunbathing, fishing...whatever it is, I have never ever had a sunburn...I have sat in a boat in the sun from sun up to sun down before, many times...no sunburn, just a nice dark tan...but this past week...I got in the pool on my raft and just basked and floated for about an hour and a half... my legs and abdomen later that night were nearly purple and so sore that I couldn't stand it...that was four days ago and they are still tender, although they have turned from purple to red to a slighly tan color... I did the same thing all last summer and never had this problem... I truly don't understand what is different this summer!

[edit on 3-7-2009 by Greenize]

Normally during summer, i'm used to the heat in texas, but this year it is just downright unbearable. I think something is going on too.

I don't know if there is anything different with summer 2009, but I do know that there have been a lot of reported sun spots. This may be the reason for the recent weather troubles.

reply to post by LeTan


We had just had over two weeks of record temps. Heat index in the hundreds...terrible...but it had cooled to the 80's and the humidity was down...it was so nice...I have never experienced a sunburn and I can tell you I don't care to ever again...thank God for aloe vera!!!...Its so weird!

Dont knock it- at least you're having a Summer.

We got the first rays of Sun today, along with temps in the high 60's.

The way they tell it, it is going to finally get warm.



Do you take any medication? It could be the meds if any are reacting to the sun.

[edit on 3-7-2009 by dgtempe]

Record temps huh?

Over here we are having insane amounts of rain. I think I've only seen about 2 sunny days in the past 90 days. My power goes out every other day. It only goes out 1-2 times a year normally. Flash flood warnings nearly everyday.
It should be at least 80 degrees to 90 by now, I mean comon its july, middle of summer. It'll hit the upper 70's then a storm will come through and we're back to the 60's again. Brrr

So I can't say much about the sun, as we never see it over here in New England.

reply to post by Greenize


Im sure you know that sunbathing in a pool reflects more sunrays on to you? It's not an insult in any way, just thougth I would throw it out there.

I have thought the same thing about the sun for about 2 or more years and I can't explain it. If I could I would. I suppose I have'nt payed enough attention to it, but the thought crosses my mind form time to time.

reply to post by LOLZebra


Hello, neighbor. Hasnt it been a doozey so far?

reply to post by Greenize


Sorry but all i can think of from reading your post is that you are just a pile of skin cancer waiting to happen. You need to use sun screen. Not to nag you, and sorry that I have already, but you really need to be more careful with your skin. Too much sun is brutal on it.

I think the sun is just fine though. I mean some years are just hotter than others. It doesnt mean the sun is trying to cook us or anything.

Anyway, hope you get better and please, for the sake of those that love you, use some sun screen.

reply to post by LOLZebra


We had a lot of rain this spring so much that my green bean seeds I planted rotted and did not come up. Now that is weird. Any hoo Greenzie I have a pool too and tan every summer and I do burn but not often because I take it slow till I get a good base, but this year I can be out for like an hour or two and start to feel my skin tighten. It usualy would take 4 to 5 hours before I had to worry. The sun feels much stronger and hotter to me this year. I have noticed and it is weird, my husband and I were just talking about it the other day. He tans easy and never burns but this year he got plum blisterd in the pool after a couple of hours and he peeled real bad. I am glad to hear it aint just me and that someone else has noticed too.

In my experience the sun down here in Australia and especially New Zealand is like living in a microwave oven some days.

The local weather reports include a burn time that is usually around 10 - 15 mins in summer. This is the time it would take a person of average complexion to develop sunburn without any protection. SPF50 sunscreen is the most commonly used type of protection. Anything less and you can get burned easily.

Compare this to the northern hemisphere, which I would describe as being a very much softer, muted sunlight. I could stay out all day in the northern hemisphere and not get the slightest bit of sun burn.

Maybe the conditions way up in the atmosphere have changed slightly and now the UV levels are increasing?

This link will explain more. Unfortunately there is no real worldwide measurement of UV levels, as each country can use a different scale and interpret the data in a different way.

Changes in Stratospheric Ozone Concentrations and Solar UV Levels

Just remember to Slip, Slop, Slap!
(slip on a t shirt, slap on some sunscreen and slap on a hat - sorry that was drilled into us at school!)

reply to post by Darth Logan


Yes, and no offense taken, and if I had never floated in the pool and sunned before, I could maybe understand why it cooked me like a goose this time... its been a painful learning experience!

The other day (when there was increased activity it turns out) I was out for a whopping 30 minutes and my arm was red lobster red. Couldn't believe it!

I don't know if our magnetosphere being as funny as it is these days is allowing for more "burn juice" but I sure felt like I was out for a full day in the Miami sun.

reply to post by dgtempe


We are having a summer for sure! We had no spring, just straight to summer with many days over 100 degrees with very high humidity!! Hopefully yours will get better. Nope, no meds. Although I am sure there are some that would benefit me!

reply to post by grapesofraft


Now I remember why I hesitated in posting this!

Only kidding, thank you for your concern. I do use sunscreen sometimes...I worry more about the chemicals in the sunscreen harming me more than I worry about the sun, but I may rethink that!

Current UV levels for the States. You guys seem to having a hot summer this year

The past few years the sun seems more intense, your burn sounds

like radiation burn, more intense than sunburn. Witch hazel helps tame

the pain down.

[edit on 4-7-2009 by truth/seeker]

reply to post by truth/seeker


I dang sure didn't know that my legs and belly could turn purple! As I said that was Tuesday...its still tender to the touch, but the color has toned down...funny my face, arms and chest were fine...

it's definately different now, hotter, more damaging, than when i was a kid or even in more recent years, but i believe it to be, as most have alluded to, only in certain areas, probably those where the ozone layer or some other layer is thinner and these may even move around as the earth rotates or orbits...i just don't know that much about it despite all i've read. i also have a very real sense that the huge push in recent years about using sunscreen and UV indexes and staying indoors and the upsurge in skin cancer is probably not due to a purely new "awareness" but something actually going on that they (maybe) don't want a panic about. just my two cents.

reply to post by Greenize

I dang sure didn't know that my legs and belly could turn purple!

Purple? Wow, that's far worse then any sun burn I've ever had. Sure, I've gone bright red and peeled after a few days, but purple? Almost sounds like a interaction between sunburn and something else. Did you apply anything to your legs and stomach that the rest of your body didn't get?