That same sun’s ultraviolet rays are burning into your exposed flesh, bringing discomfort from sunburn in the short term and the risk of skin cancer further down the track.
No matter where in Otago — or the South or New Zealand for that matter — you live, the intensity of the sun’s rays will cause damage to the skin if it is uncovered by clothing or unprotected with sunscreen.
It is for good reason that for several decades now, medical professionals, scientists and the Cancer Society have been warning that the old summer holiday routine of lying in the sun until your skin peels is foolish and hazardous.
The latest scientific study, released this week, shows that in 2020 New Zealand had the highest rates of melanoma in the world and also the highest death rate from skin cancer.
We can blame our largely pollution-free skies for this. But that is not the only reason.
Add into that the number of fair-skinned people who burn easily in Aotearoa, and that Maori and Pasifika, while having a lower chance of getting skin cancer, are less likely to survive it. And also the stupidity factor of sun-bathing for too long or even for any time at all.
In the South we have especially unpolluted air and long summer days which can make sun exposure worse. But, we also have the slight advantage of being somewhat cloudier on average than parts of the country further north.
That New Zealand is worse than Australia in the melanoma stakes might surprise some. But in Australia, the heat in the sun makes you think twice about staying out of the shade for too long. Here, that cool breeze easily lulls you into a false sense of security about the strength of those rays.
In New Zealand, more than 350 people die from melanoma each year, the third-most common type of cancer here, and about 4000 people a year are diagnosed with it.
This latest study shows in 2020 the Kiwi mortality rate was four per 100,000 men and two per 100,000 women, while rates in many other parts of the world were between 0.2 and one per 100,000. About one in 20 New Zealand men and one in 30 women have melanoma by the age of 75.
The Cancer Society says most melanomas can be cured if found early enough, and that people need to watch changes to their skin closely. The usual advice remains relevant about slapping on sunscreen, wearing hats, avoiding the sun during the hottest part of the day and sticking to the shade as much as possible.
New Zealand may top the melanoma charts but we certainly are lagging when it comes to funding. The University of Otago’s Dr Bronwen McNoe points out that in almost every aspect of skin-cancer prevention we are in Australia’s shadow.
She says 2020-21 prevention funding for Te Hiringa Hauora Health Promotion Agency was a mere $500,000, including salaries, compared with the Australian government’s recent $A10 million investment in a one-off, two-year campaign.
We need to be doing a lot better on this side of the Tasman.
Tonight we put the clocks back an hour, signalling the shift from daylight saving time to New Zealand standard time and marking a move into autumn.
The problem of sunburn and skin cancer does not magically disappear with the time change. The bright midday sun in the first week of April is no less dangerous than it was in the last week of March.
This is not a time to get careless or carefree about getting burnt. As temperatures fall, it is easy to spend more time in the sun without protection, thinking it is doing you no harm.
It might take a little longer in the sun over the next few months for you to frazzle.
But frazzle you still will.
