Honestly, this is exactly where my hubby was at 60. He is very fair, burnt red in his childhood. But believed his skin had finally adapted to the sun after years of light exposure and factor 20. He was happy he could finally tan safely…and then he got skin cancer.
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Sorry to hear that, hope he is OK. As I said the rates are increasing dramatically, a very worrying situation as treatments cost health services a fortune.
Many UK cases of melanoma are caused by sunbed use. I imagine the majority is caused by sunbathing - an activity which we wouldn’t have had the leisure time for in the past - whether in the UK (unlikely) or in places like Spain, where holidays were suddenly cheap and popular.
In the past, and as is still the case in some countries, tanned skin was associated with outdoor work. So those who were/are lighter skinned were more likely to be from a wealthier background.
Australia became a world leader in treating skin cancer, because there was an epidemic of cases. Northern Europeans, including those forcefully sent as prisoners, arrived with fair skin and light or red hair. Clearly not suited to the sun of the southern hemisphere.The result was of course, many, many cases of skin cancer.
If you look at evolution and track the movement of mankind from the cradle of civilisation, you’ll see that as populations travelled north they became lighter and lighter( clearly not overnight). Very dark skin struggles to absorb vitamin D in the Northern hemisphere, ( still does of course, hence vit D added to many foods)so the lighter skinned had a better chance of survival. In this case survival of the lightest.
Lighter skinned people are not naturally suited to southern sun.
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I was looking for information from the Haut Jura as the altitude (plus in winter snow reflection) does make it dit an extreme category. Every year there are skin clinics in Spring at local surgery to check and inform people. Places that weren’t extreme in the past are now so one can’t be complacent.
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As are ultra processed foods
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Yes agreed Jane, my niece grew up in France, moved back to the UK for many years and has now returned to look after her aging parents. Her first observation, there are so many overweight French people everywhere! She looked into the rates of obesity and commented how quickly they have risen. Lifestyles are changing, the old french ways are not recognisable, more convenience foods everywhere, she is a good chef. So its probably not just the sun thats always been there with hot years and cooler wetter ones. Now we have the Ozempic generations, people not willing to change their ways but relying on a drug with concerning long term outcomes unknown.
Well, no, not if you look at how evolution works. Its about adaptation to the environment, see my previous post about evolution and migration. If you don’t adapt you do die out.
In the last 10 years or so temperatures have arrived in Northern Europe that those who are already adapted to a more temperate, cooler climate, are finding physiologically difficult to adapt to. Lower temperatures than people in, say, India , experience and cope with every year because they are physiologically adapted to them.
But high temperatures are cyclic, 1976 in the UK for example then the weather goes quiet for a few years then off it goes again getting hotter. Weather its getting that much hotter long term is subject to much debate from opposing view points. I would like to believe the message from the Gov in Oz is being listened to an acted upon, which if it is and the use of ever stronger sun creams it still wouldn’t explain the alarming rise in skin cancer cases that Jane’s link showed.
There are many factors that lead to the increase; better detection, people living longer, sun cream isn’t perfect and many people do not use it as they should( reapply every 2 hours, at least one teaspoon on every limb,after going into water , apply 15 mins before going out in the sun etc)
Even with sun cream you should stay out of sun at certain times , wear a hat etc. It helps but its not perfect, even when used properly.
People believe they are well protected because they have sunscreen on so stay out in the sun longer.
And of course, people getting skin cancer now in the UK and elsewhere did the damage to their skin many years ago , before we knew better.
My sister, now 60, used to lie on a towel with foil underneath her, plastered in olive oil and she’s a red head!!!
I saw a young man on a phone in the TF1 the other morning who was asking about SP factors. He thought factor 20 meant you had to reapply it every 20 minutes and factor 50 every 50 minutes. I was very surprised that he thought this.
Which thread are we in now? Seems a number of weather related discussions are under way! 
The ozone being depleted does not help the situation.
Having been depleted, pretty much the holes have gone. However the effects have not. The forever chemicals used back then in refrigeration are still around. A study of pre 1988 wine found no PFAS since then the levels have steadily increased so they now reckon all wine carries a significant amount of forever chemicals. Also found in tap water.
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The SF forum operates under the strict rules of “Mornington Crescent”
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Its all one thread, just a lot of loose fibres 
I use a water filter that guarantees 99% of PFA’s filtered out. But I think to get rid of all,you need a reverse osmosis filter fitted under the sink. Quite pricey I believe.
RO is wasteful of water because it relies on discarding the unwanted solutes as waste water. We use them in the lab because they are more energy efficient than a still, but they are not cheap to use and not good if water is scarce.
I am quite pleased I’m in France, as if the water crisis deepens, as surely it must, being in a country where water is publically owned rather than privately, one feels its more likely to be distributed according to need rather than want.
I believe the UK is the only country with private ownership of water. I can only imagine who would be front of the queue for water there , and who would get nothing.
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