As the summer comes to an end, few realise that despite recent wet and cloudy conditions, Australia has been consistently hammered by unprecedented levels of unseen dangerous ultraviolet radiation, which threatens people, crops, flora and fauna alike.
Ultraviolet light levels are measured by something called The UV Index. A level of 2 is largely considered to be safe and Australia frequently experiences radiation levels around 6. However levels ranging from 7 to 12 have now become commonplace. Levels of 10-12 are outrageous, and one experiences acute discomfort as a result.
One can be burnt though white shirts or socks. 10 minutes exposure on bare skin leaves the skin tingling and without sunglasses the glare can be unbearable. Many report nausea, light headedness and difficulty concentrating after half an hour in the sun, hat or no hat. |
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Even the casual observer alerted to look, can see the damage done to natives and exotics all around.
Old and valuable street and garden trees such as elms,oaks, pines, and plane trees are all suffering the effects. In Melbourne the trees outside Moorabbin Town Hall or along St. Kilda Road are badly damaged. Elegant oaks in Balwyn have been undergoing crown die back for several years, some are now dead. Lawn grasses are very resistant, but not if the mower is set too low, removing the protection afforded by the 1-2% silica in the leaves.
These silica-laden reflectors explain why sportsmen such as cricketers need to protect themselves from radiation bouncing upwards from the grass. Many fruit trees and shrubs look "forced", with shoots much too elongated, bearing far too many flowers and then lots of undersized fruits, often followed by die back and slow death. In many plants, the seed produced is infertile and refuses to germinate. Unless the root systems are mulched and efforts made to keep the direct sunlight off the lower stem, especially where it meets the roots, many shrubs go into a slow death that looks like death from water shortage. But in fact if you water them, they often die faster, as the softer tissue is more readily fried.
Gardeners across the country will also be noticing unusual activity. Dr Teri O'Brien, himself an avid gardener was first alerted when he returned to his favorite pastime of vegetable growing in 2007 and was horrified at what he observed. Early-sown beans, pumpkins and cucumbers failed to germinate. Later batches germinated but were weak and sickly and all died. Climbing beans shot up rapidly, turned spotty, collapsed; later plantings growing in the shade of the dead ones grew better and flowered well, but set poor quantities of pods. All biennial crops (lettuces, mizuma, rocket, beet root, silver beet, parsley and onions among others went straight to seed, often producing a superabundance of flowers).
Dr O'Brien immediately suspected high UV levels were the culprit when he observed excessive bleaching of the leaves. His suspicions were later confirmed when the UV levels provided by ARPANSA were analysed. “These effects cannot be taken lightly. These levels of radiation are dangerous and need to be investigated for both the long term and short term effects.” Said Dr.O'Brien. “We're not just talking about skin cancer, which is bad enough, but until we start taking this issue seriously, lives are in danger.” He added. “We also run a very real risk of major crop losses and a devastating bill for loss of trees and ornamentals.” |
