Correlation of the Variation of Solar Radiation with the Frequency of Reported Cases of the Diseases of the Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue in Yola

Abstract

Solar radiation data for 40 years collected from the meteorological center have been used to study the variation of solar radiation. Also, data from the health management board for the disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue was used to correlate the solar insolation variation with the frequency of cases reported. The result shows that; solar radiation intensity is increasing over the years. An individual remaining in the sun in Yola receives an average solar insolation of 232.45 Js-1m-2 i.e. 1m2 of the body exposed to the sun in Yola receives solar energy of about 232.45 J every second and 20.084 MJ every day. An adult with an average body surface area of about 1.8 m2, receives an average energy of about 418.4 J every second he spends labouring outside. Also if likened to ionizing radiation and considering that the size of a typical mammalian cell ˜ 10 μm, the energy mentioned above has the potential of cursing about 4.2663 x 107 ion pairs per cell, with ion pairs giving rise to a break in the chemical bond. There is a strong positive correlation (R = 0.8138) between solar insolation and the number of reported cases of the disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. A population growth weighted ratio of the disease cases over the years could be very useful for a comprehensive result.