There are very few universal truths but, 2+2=4, fire is hot, and NEVER look directly at a solar eclipse, are some good rules to follow. On April 8th, the United States got to witness a truly awesome celestial phenomenon- a total solar eclipse.
Unfortunately, it seems like some people didn’t get the memo about how to view it. This is despite the many media outlets covering how to safely do so. Since that day, Google searches for “my eyes hurt” and “why do my eyes hurt” spiked.
According to Google Trends data, these searches topped the same query traffic after 2017’s total solar eclipse. While Google hasn’t disclosed specifics these searches hit a perfect 100 on the tracking scale, 2017 only scored a 64.
The Reason
A portion of these searches could be due to people just staring into the sun. Some of these searches may have been from people who got scammed by faulty eclipse glasses. In the weeks leading up to the solar eclipse, practically every company was selling glasses that supposedly allowed peopl to safely view the rare cosmic event.
But just days before the event, a recall was issued on glasses available at businesses in Missouri and Illinois. These retailers mistakenly sold glasses that did not have a proper International Organization for Standardization (ISO) number. Meaning they had not been properly evaluated and did not meet the standards for safe viewing. At this time, we do not know how many consumers may have missed the warning and used these unsafe spectacles.
The next total lunar eclipse won’t happen until 2024. We’ll have to wait til 2044 for our next total solar eclipse.
