A EUROPEAN Commission report on the ozone layer, which protects against the harmful effects of the sun's ultraviolet rays, has disclosed evidence of a 40 per cent depletion rate in the northern hemisphere.
Record low temperatures in the Arctic combined with pollutants are blamed for "extensive chemical destruction" of the ozone layer.
The Commission said yesterday the findings confirm that efforts to reduce ozone depleting substances as agreed by international conventions were failing, and the damage to the ozone layer is not being reversed.
There is also concern, according to the Commission, that low spring temperatures may be part of a longer term trend, possibly resulting from a new relationship developing between chemicals and climate.
An ozone layer monitoring campaign, sponsored by the Commission's environment and climate programme and national agencies, found losses of as much as 50 per cent compared with the normal expected values for this time of year.
The Commission said the losses are similar to those experienced during the winters of 1994/95 and 1995/96.
Analyses of stratospheric temperature data showed this March to be the coldest on record, according to the report. "The average monthly mean over the [North] Pole was some six degrees lower than the previous minimum average," the report said.
"These very low temperatures in the Arctic springtime give rise to the concern that they may be part of a longer term trend."
The scientific findings within the report emerged from work carried out within EU research programmes.
The research projects involving field measurements concentrated on ozone loss in the winter and spring of 1996/97 and involved more than 200 participants from more than 20 European countries, as well as Canada, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The scientific results will be considered on a symposium on ozone research in Germany next September.