Another blue-eyed relative here!
I wonder whether the evolutionary process is the opposite way round to what the article says though. My reasoning being that if the first life forms from which we evolved were underwater where there is little sunlight and less UV, they would have had less pigmentation - compare this with sea life today and those weird creatures which live at the deepest level being virtually translucent - albino?
Later then, as humans moved to warmer climates/as the earth warmed up, the gene actually switched on to produce melanin and darker eye-colouring for protection from the sun's UV. Again, compare with today when a 'white' person gets a sun tan. It just seems to make more sense to me this way around.
Ok - over to the scholars of evolution to sort it out!