A Beautiful Planet calls Earth's atmosphere "a delicate cocoon of air that shields us from our star's radiation." Of course, the atmosphere doesn't completely block electromagnetic radiation from the Sun; without some sunlight reaching the surface, plants could not harvest the Sun's energy, and practically no life as we know it could exist. The atmosphere's ozone layer does filter out much of the harmful ultraviolet light (or "UV rays") produced by the Sun. UV rays can cause skin cancer, and catastrophic damage to the ozone layer may have contributed to Earth's most extensive mass extinction of species ever, the End-Permian extinction (also known
The Sun Is Often Out It was, however, the next single, "On and On” which would be the band’s breakthrough single; reaching No. 16 in the UK. With this momentum the album was released in April and shortly after "She Said" was re-released, also making it to No. 16 in the UK singles chart. The final single from the album "Lost Myself", narrowly missed out on giving the band a third successive Top 20 single, stalling at No. 22. "The Sun Is Often Out" was declared one of 1996's 50 best albums by both "Q" and "Melody Maker" and retains a favourable 4 star rating