eli5: Do people with darker skin have to wear sunscreen?

Question

I heard the UV cause skin cancer, I’m a brown guy and never wear sunscreen, does that mean I have a higher likelihood of getting skin cancer?

In: 159

Answer 1

It strongly depends on where the person lives.
I live in Melbourne and worked in oncology. It’s horrifying the central African people here who don’t understand that the UV power in summer, this far south, is incredibly dangerous.

So a Sudanese in England’s summer probably doesn’t need to really really worry about sunscreen, the UV doesn’t exceed 8 and 8 is rare.

But a Sudanese in Melbourne’s summer with UV rating often reaching 14 absolutely needs to wear sunscreen.

While we are on the topic: a tan is Not protection. A tan is evidence of skin damage.