Know your Risk: Part Two

.. and then there were three ...

With the New Zealand summer fast approaching - and the Rugby World Cup in Japan in full swing - it’s time to pass on news of our new smartphone app to provide advice on UV at your location, and what you should do to avoid skin damage.

The app is called UVNZ and was written by my friend Jerry Burke. The screen icon is deliberately reminiscent of the All Blacks, who are hopefully marching on to victory as you read this. South Africa last week, and Canada this week. My Mum was born in Canada, so I’m a Canadian citizen as well as a Kiwi, and had a “bob-each-way” on last night’s match. If Australia should make the final, I’ll also conveniently remember that two of my four grandparents (one on either side) were born in Australia. In the meantime, I shed a silent tear for my vanquished Canadian compatriots.

But I digress … Back to the app. It’s an update of the older uv2Day app that tells you:

• The current UVI (with or without cloud effects), and

• How the UVI will change over the day (so you can plan your day to minimise your risk of skin damage), and

• How long you can be exposed to sunlight at any time of day without visible signs of skin damage. The times are surprisingly short! Take a look.

It uses new data feeds from NIWA and has the added capability of providing behavioural advice tailored to your skin type - when you enter skin type at first use. As with the uv2Day app, it is again supported by the Cancer Society of New Zealand.

We wanted to make sure the app transitioned correctly to New Zealand daylight saving time before announcing it. It was just as well we did. Apple insists that on the switchover day to summer daylight saving, the time 02:00 does not exist! You may not have noticed that missing instant, but the initial iPhone app software did. All good now, but I do wonder what would happened if an apple user had died right then. Would they really be still be alive?

The is app freely available for iPhone and android, but currently (until NIWA broadens its geographical area of data coverage) it provides UVI forecasts only for the New Zealand region. If you’re anywhere else, I recommend that you continue to use our GlobalUV app (or the uv2Day app for the wider South Pacific region).