Sun Safety and Preventing Skin Cancer: Educating the Public through Social Media

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention requests a session entitled “Sun Safety and Preventing Skin Cancer: How broadcast meteorologists can use Social Media to Educate the Public”.

The explosion of social media – Facebook, Twitter, and Smartphones - is creating new ways for people to get weather information. EPA is using the UV Index as an entry point into social media for its sun safety efforts. By providing easy access to a discrete number, which in turn is tied to actionable steps, the sun safety message is reaching new audiences.

As broadcast meteorologists continue to use more multimedia during their weather forecasts, providing weather information via social media provides opportunities to stay connected to existing audiences and also reach new audiences.

The themes of the session will be:

- An overview of stratospheric ozone layer depletion and its connection to public health; - Highlights of the social media campaign; - Enhancements to the UV Index forecast (hourly data, XML feed); and - Highlights from another sun safety initiative, Don't Fry Day 2010

Background:

EPA is involved in skin cancer prevention and sun safety education through its stratospheric ozone protection program and SunWise program. As broadcast meteorologists know, the ozone layer forms a thin shield in the upper atmosphere, protecting life on Earth from the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays. Sustained depletion of the ozone layer results in increased UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Overexposure to UV radiation can in turn lead to serious health effects, such as skin cancer, cataracts, and immune suppression.