The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), together with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service, launched the Global UV Index in May. The new program replaces the United States’ current UV Index, a daily forecast of the expected risk of overexposure to the sun, in order to be consistent with international guidelines developed by the World Health Organization.

“We are excited that the U.S. is adopting the Global UV Index,” says Dr. James Spencer, co-chair of the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention and professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. “If people use the index to protect themselves from the sun during peak UV intensity hours, their chances of UV-related health problems--like skin cancer--will decrease greatly.”

Previously, the UV Index was reported on a scale of 0 to 10+, with 0 representing “Minimal” and 10+ representing “Very High.” The new index uses a scale of 1 (representing “Low”) to 11 and higher (representing “Extreme”), a new color scheme, revised exposure categories, and different breakpoints between exposure categories.

UV Index forecasts issued by the National Weather Service provide information about UV intensity during the solar noon hour--11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. local standard time or 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. local daylight time--of the following day.

Information about the Global UV Index is available at www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvilaunch.html.

Source: EPA.