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
Ultraviolet photography Silicon (from which DSLR sensors are made) can respond to wavelengths between 1100-190 nm. Photography based on visible fluorescence induced by UV radiation uses the same ultraviolet illumination as in reflected UV photography. However, the glass barrier filter used on the lens must now absorb or block all ultraviolet and infrared light and must permit only the "visible" radiation to pass. Visible fluorescence is produced in a suitable subject when the shorter, higher energy ultraviolet wavelengths are absorbed, lose some energy and are emitted as longer, lower energy visible wavelengths. UV induced visible fluorescence photography must take place in a