Why you get tanned in sun?

Tanning is the effect of ultraviolet radiation burning your skin. Your skin is DAMAGED when you get a tan. The body responds to this damage by producing more melanin skin pigmentation in an effort to protect the skin (this is why dark skinned people have dark skin). However for a white skinned person, the protection is only slight and later in life you will develop more wrinkles and may get skin cancer from exposure to the sun.