Twenty-five years of spectral UV-B measurements over Canada, Europe and Japan: Trends and effects from changes in ozone, aerosols, clouds, and surface reflectivity

Fountoulakis, Ilias; Zerefos, C. S.; Bais, Alkiviadis; Kapsomenakis, John; Koukouli, M. E.; Ohkawara, Nozomu; Fioletov, Vitali; Backer, H. De; Lakkala, Kaisa; Karppinen, Tomi; Webb, Ann R.

doi:10.1016/j.crte.2018.07.011

Cited by 24 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…The UV-A irradiance did not change during the same period, indicating that the trends in UV-B irradiance were driven by changes in total ozone. In a more recent study [56], analysis of spectral measurements for Sodankylä for the period 1992-2016 revealed a decreasing trend of −3.2% per decade in the irradiance at 307.5 nm, which again is significant at the 90% (and not the 95%) confidence level. Part of this decrease was attributed to a statistically significant decrease of 4.6% per decade in surface reflectivity.…”

Section: Main Findings From Recent Studiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…In Section 3 of the present study, the analysis of the same dataset used in Fountoulakis et al [56] for four different historical European stations has been updated and performed for the period 1996-2017. Ground based spectral UV measurements for the particular period have been analyzed in the context of the present study for: Uccle, Belgium (50.8 ).…”

Section: Uv Trends In European Stationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The spectra for Thessaloniki were directly provided by the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (LAP-AUTH). Analytical information regarding the datasets employed and the methodology can be found in Fountoulakis et al [56]. A brief description of the methodology is provided in the following.…”

Section: Uv Trends In European Stationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, recent studies reporting results from mid-latitude stations of the northern hemisphere show that UV irradiance has increased in the last two decades mainly as a result of the global brightening effect, while total ozone has either remained stable or increased in the same period [56][57][58]. Increasing aerosols over South-East Asia have had the opposite effect resulting to decreased levels of solar UV radiation [41,59].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solar UV Irradiance in a Changing Climate: Trends in Europe and the Significance of Spectral Monitoring in Italy

et al. 2019

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Review of the existing bibliography shows that the direction and magnitude of the long-term trends of UV irradiance, and their main drivers, vary significantly throughout Europe. Analysis of total ozone and spectral UV data recorded at four European stations during 1996–2017 reveals that long-term changes in UV are mainly driven by changes in aerosols, cloudiness, and surface albedo, while changes in total ozone play a less significant role. The variability of UV irradiance is large throughout Italy due to the complex topography and large latitudinal extension of the country. Analysis of the spectral UV records of the urban site of Rome, and the alpine site of Aosta reveals that differences between the two sites follow the annual cycle of the differences in cloudiness and surface albedo. Comparisons between the noon UV index measured at the ground at the same stations and the corresponding estimates from the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) forecast model and the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI)/Aura observations reveal differences of up to 6 units between individual measurements, which are likely due to the different spatial resolution of the different datasets, and average differences of 0.5–1 unit, possibly related to the use of climatological surface albedo and aerosol optical properties in the retrieval algorithms.

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Section: Main Findings From Recent Studiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Uv Trends In European Stationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Uv Trends In European Stationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solar UV Irradiance in a Changing Climate: Trends in Europe and the Significance of Spectral Monitoring in Italy

et al. 2019

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“…Increasing EUV levels in the 1980s and 1990s over Poland was strongly affected by decreasing aerosol loading of the atmosphere due to the economic crisis in the 1980s and the industrial transformation in the 1990s (Posyniak et al, 2016). Fountoulakis et al (2018) found that there is no statistically significant trend in UV-B in Europe for the period 1992-2016, except Reading with the negative trend. The high increasing tendency of the melanoma ASIR observed in Europe in recent decades has not been accompanied by a similar trend in ambient UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Climatological aspects of the increase of the skin cancer (melanoma) incidence rate in Europe

Czerwińska

Krzyścin

2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) has a detrimental impact on human health. Overexposures can lead to erythema and DNA damage causing various skin cancers, including the most dangerous melanoma. Recently, a large increase in melanoma incidents has been detected in Europe. We search for a link between the increase of the skin cancer incidence rate and early spring (April) trends in surface UVR and meteorological parameters (temperature, cloudi-

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Changes in tropospheric air quality related to the protection of stratospheric ozone in a changing climate

Madronich

Sulzberger

Longstreth³

et al. 2023

Photochem Photobiol Sci

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Ultraviolet (UV) radiation drives the net production of tropospheric ozone (O3) and a large fraction of particulate matter (PM) including sulfate, nitrate, and secondary organic aerosols. Ground-level O3 and PM are detrimental to human health, leading to several million premature deaths per year globally, and have adverse effects on plants and the yields of crops. The Montreal Protocol has prevented large increases in UV radiation that would have had major impacts on air quality. Future scenarios in which stratospheric O3 returns to 1980 values or even exceeds them (the so-called super-recovery) will tend to ameliorate urban ground-level O3 slightly but worsen it in rural areas. Furthermore, recovery of stratospheric O3 is expected to increase the amount of O3 transported into the troposphere by meteorological processes that are sensitive to climate change. UV radiation also generates hydroxyl radicals (OH) that control the amounts of many environmentally important chemicals in the atmosphere including some greenhouse gases, e.g., methane (CH4), and some short-lived ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). Recent modeling studies have shown that the increases in UV radiation associated with the depletion of stratospheric ozone over 1980–2020 have contributed a small increase (~ 3%) to the globally averaged concentrations of OH. Replacements for ODSs include chemicals that react with OH radicals, hence preventing the transport of these chemicals to the stratosphere. Some of these chemicals, e.g., hydrofluorocarbons that are currently being phased out, and hydrofluoroolefins now used increasingly, decompose into products whose fate in the environment warrants further investigation. One such product, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), has no obvious pathway of degradation and might accumulate in some water bodies, but is unlikely to cause adverse effects out to 2100. Graphical abstract

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Twenty-five years of spectral UV-B measurements over Canada, Europe and Japan: Trends and effects from changes in ozone, aerosols, clouds, and surface reflectivity

Cited by 24 publications

References 93 publications

Solar UV Irradiance in a Changing Climate: Trends in Europe and the Significance of Spectral Monitoring in Italy

Solar UV Irradiance in a Changing Climate: Trends in Europe and the Significance of Spectral Monitoring in Italy

Climatological aspects of the increase of the skin cancer (melanoma) incidence rate in Europe

Changes in tropospheric air quality related to the protection of stratospheric ozone in a changing climate

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