Effects on People

Plants may consume the most amount of sunlight but it is obviously people who have made the most of its power and have harnessed its energy for various uses. Thus, it can be said that people have had the most experiences on both the positive and negative effects of sunlight.

As it does for other living things, the sun provides people with the light that makes day distinct from night. In recent years, people have successfully harnessed solar energy to generate artificial lighting and heating for their homes, workplaces, and other places. Structures called solar panels are set up on the rooftops of buildings and these trap the sun’s rays. The panels process the energy to generate electrical power.

Sunlight likewise helps people grow plants for food and other purposes. It is also a welcome sight for people who flock to beaches for some time to relax and soak in the sun.

Sunlight also provides the vitamin D that people need for good health. Vitamin D enables the human body to have the proper levels of calcium and phosphorus that make their bones healthy. A special substance in the human body reacts with the sun’s ultraviolet rays and converts the energy from the rays into vitamin D. These rays are very powerful and too much exposure to them may damage the skin and result in serious health conditions such as skin cancer. They also destroy the connective tissue under the top layer of the skin, producing wrinkles and brown spots and speeding up the skin’s aging process.