UV rays can't be seen or felt so Australians are being encouraged to check the daily UV Index charts published by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) or Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
Heather Walker,chair of Cancer Council Australia’s National Skin Cancer Committee.
This month in Sydney,the UV level will pass 3 about 10.30am and fall below it about 4.30pm.
"I'll often be outside after work and be amazed that even though its a warm,lovely,sunny afternoon,I don't need sun protection,"said Ms Walker.
"Intuitively it feels wrong,but I know how the science works and you can plan your outdoor activities so that it coincides with when the UV levels are low."
An ARPANSA spokeswoman told Fairfax Media the strength of UV rays had not increased over the past 20 years,but it needed further data and time to confirm this,as there was year to year variation.
"The average strength of UV is influenced by cyclical periods of certain weather and environmental factors such as ozone events,bushfires,pollution,storms and cloud cover,aerosols and El Nino and La Nina events,"she said.
She said its UV index combined both UVA and UVB,though UVB,which is mostly associated with cancer,is given greater weight.
A BoM spokesman said the levels of UV radiation changed throughout the day.
"On any day the greatest amount of UV reaches the Earth around midday when the sun is at its highest point,"he said.
"When the sun is low in the sky,solar energy must travel a greater distance through the atmosphere and more UV is scattered and absorbed. This applies to UVA and UVB at the Earth's surface."
Professor David Whiteman,convenor of the Sunscreen Summit,which begins on Monday in Brisbane,said getting Australians to protect their skin was an ongoing challenge.
For example,sunscreen could prevent skin cancer,yet many people didn't know when or how to properly use it. About 85 per cent don't apply it correctly.
“We're hoping to develop new strategies to educate Australians about sunscreen’s role in sun protection and find new ways to improve public understanding of how to prevent skin cancer,"Professor Whiteman,also head of the Cancer Control group at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute,said.
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When UV levels are 3 or above,Cancer Council recommends:
- Slip on protective clothing
- Slop on SPF30 or higher,broad spectrum,water resistant sunscreen
- Slap on a broadbrim hat
- Seek shade
- Slide on sunglasses
- Australians can also use the SunSmart app to see sun protection times each day