Jaime Abarca is the only dermatologist in this city of 154,000 at South America’s southern tip. His practice, initially small, has become a great deal busier in recent years. Abarca, who has been on the job here since 1986, says his office at the Regional Hospital has seen a marked increase in skin-cancer cases. He attributes the trend to the ozone hole. Since at least the mid-1980s, the hole has swelled each year during the Southern Hemisphere’s spring. Often growing to the size of North America, the hole extends over Punta Arenas for 10 to 17 days a year, allowing the sun’s ultraviolet B (UV-B) rays to beat down on the populace with far greater intensity than usual. Abarca and other experts... [Log in to read more]