10 things you should know about the sun to survive!

10 things you should know about the sun to survive!

For an average Earthman, the Sun is the source of life. But if you find yourself stuck in the desert, you will soon start thinking the opposite. Although it takes light from the Sun 8 minutes to reach our planet, it is still powerful enough to cause some serious health issues.According to professional travel guides at Aussie Writings, you have to be extremely careful before you go for the real desert adventure. Most of the time, you have to avoid sunlight but it could also do well on some occasions. In this article, we will show you 10 things you should know about the Sun to survive.

• Heat stroke & exhaustion
Too much time in the Sun can cause exhaustion due to excessive loss of water and salt. The symptoms include nausea, headache, weakness, and many other. In case you don’t treat this condition, you can even experience the so-called heat stroke.

• Sunburns & skin cancer
We started with negative effects of sunlight exposure, so we must mention the consequences of the Sun’s UV radiation. This is why its so important to have tactical sunglasses because those UV rays can also affect your eyes. Besides unpleasant sunburns, a longer desert adventure could cause major consequences in the form of skin cancer. Needless to say, this is something you would like to avoid.

• Get under cover
The third point on our list comes as the only reasonable aftermath of the previous two. Getting under cover is mandatory in desert conditions, which means you need a wide hat to cover your head. Besides that, you need to keep the rest of your body out of the direct influence of sunrays.

• Drink water carefully
If you have water with you, don’t drink it all at once. You need to drink in smaller sips instead to prevent dehydration in the long run. If you don’t have enough water but come across it in the desert, don’t hurry and look for the usual signs of contaminations.

• Don’t eat too much
The golden rule of desert adventures is that it’s better to stay hungry than eat too much. The reason is simple – the more you eat, the thirstier you’ll get. Since you can live without food longer than without water, it is better to skip your meals.

• Don’t speak
In the desert, everything you do takes away your energy. One way to preserve precious energy is to move slowly and effortlessly (if possible). Another important thing is to keep your mouth shut to slow down dehydration.

• Make water through condensation
Every drop of water is precious in the sand-covered desolation, so you should try to make some on your own. You can do it using the plant condensation system – put a plant in the plastic bag and wait for it to release water in the process of transpiration.

• Use the Sun for navigation
It’s easy to get lost in the desert but the Sun is always there to help you navigate your way out. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, which is the basic indicator for orientation. But its trajectory slightly changes throughout the year, so you should learn more about the Sun-based navigation.

• Find a night shelter
Spending days in the desert can cause a heat stroke, but at the same time, it can make you freeze at night. After sunset, the cloudless sky allows heat to fade away quickly, which makes the temperatures go way below zero. If you don’t want to freeze after a whole day of boiling down, you need to find a night shelter and rest comfortably.

• Disinfection
The Sun’s UV radiation kills bacteria and viruses, which makes it a perfect disinfection method. Hanging your stuff on the clothesline, you can successfully disinfect and sterilize your clothes in the desert.

Conclusion
People could not survive without the Sun and its warmth. However, sunlight can cause serious side effects in the desert, so you have to learn how to avoid it in this environment. In our article, we showed you 10 things to know about the Sun to survive. Enjoy your stay in the desert and remember our tips – they could help you big time!

About author: Olivia is an independent journalist and passionate explorer. She likes to write about everything that can positively affect people’s life. When not searching for a new topic to write on, Olivia prefers to take a camera and enjoy the beauty of nature. Find her on Facebook and Twitter.