Best of our wild blogs: 17 Sep 10

The Birds of Singapore - an online book
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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'Asian unicorn' dies after capture in Laos

Rare saola caught by villagers and shown to conservationists was thought to be one of only a few hundred left in the wild
Helen Pidd and agencies guardian.co.uk 16 Sep 10;

Rare saola caught by villagers and shown to conservationists was thought to be one of only a few hundred left in the wild

It is one of the rarest animals in the world, a horned beast sighted so rarely it is nicknamed "the Asian unicorn".

So when villagers in a remote region of Laos became the first people in a decade to spot a saola they were keen to keep the antelope-like creature, which has large white streaks of fur that look like eyebrows.

But in their enthusiasm to protect it they may have killed the animal. It died last month after a few days in captivity, conservationists said.

The critically endangered mammal is found in the mountains of Vietnam and Laos. It was discovered in 1992.

The saola looks similar to the antelope of North Africa but is more closely related to wild cattle and is likened to the mythical unicorn because of its rarity.

It has never been seen by conservation experts in the wild and the last confirmed sighting was from automated cameras in 1999.

The species is listed as critically endangered, with just a few hundred thought to exist in the wild. There are none in zoos and almost nothing is known about how to keep them in captivity, meaning if they vanish in the wild they will be extinct.

The Lao government said villagers in the country's central province of Bolikhamxay captured the saola in late August and brought it to their village.

When news of the capture reached the authorities a team was sent, advised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to examine and release the animal.

But the adult male saola died shortly after the team reached the remote village. It was photographed while still alive.

The IUCN's saola expert William Robichaud said:

"We hope the information gained from the incident can be used to ensure that this is not the last saola anyone has a chance to see."

The provincial conservation unit of Bolikhamxay province said the animal's death was "unfortunate" but the incident confirmed an area where it was still found and the government would immediately strengthen conservation efforts there.

Dr Pierre Comizzoli, a member of the IUCN saola working group, said study of the animal's carcass could yield some good.

"Our lack of knowledge of saola biology is a major constraint to efforts to conserve it. This can be a major step forward in understanding this remarkable and mysterious species."

Rare antelope-like mammal caught in Asia
Katia Moskvitch BBC News 16 Sep 10;

An extremely rare animal known as the "Asian unicorn" - in spite of having two horns - has been caught by villagers in Laos.

No biologist has ever reported seeing the rare Saola in the wild and there are none of them in captivity.

The animal was discovered in the forests of South-East Asia as recently as 1992.

There have only been a few photos of the Saola taken so far, by villagers and automatic camera traps.

The Saola - Pseudoryx nghetinhensis - is believed to inhabit the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam, and that is where villagers from Laos' central province of Bolikhamxay caught the unfortunate adult male earlier this August.

They brought the mammal back to the village.
Unfortunate death

Surprised by the odd-looking animal, the villagers took a few photos and notified the Lao authorities. But by the time a team from the Bolikhamxay Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office reached the remote location, the Saola was dead.

"The death of this Saola is unfortunate," said a spokesperson of the provincial conservation unit of Bolikhamxay province.

"But at least it confirms an area where it still occurs and the government will immediately move to strengthen conservation efforts there."
New species

In 1992, biologists declared the Saola a news species after analysis of its physical features and DNA.

It resembles the antelopes of North Africa, but is believed to be more closely related to wild cattle.

The Saola is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species. Only a handful have reportedly been sighted, mainly by the local population.

"At best a few hundred survive, but it may be only a few dozen. The situation is critical," said Pierre Comizzoli, a veterinarian with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and a member of the IUCN Saola Working Group.

The technical team took the carcass to the provincial capital Pakxan for further analysis.

"Our lack of knowledge of Saola biology is a major constraint to efforts to conserve it," noted Dr Comizzoli.

Not much time

"This can be a major step forward in understanding this remarkable and mysterious species. It's clear that further awareness-raising efforts about the special status of Saola are needed but Saola doesn't have much time left."

The Lao authorities have urged villagers not to capture any Saola, and if they do, immediately release the animal.

"This incident highlights the importance of Laos to global wildlife conservation. Saola and several other rare endemic species are found almost nowhere else in the world," said Latsamay Sylavong, the national representative for the IUCN Lao programme.

"Our knowledge of them is limited, and in Laos we need to improve protection of both the ecosystems and the special species they hold, like the Saola. Much needs to be done."

Asian ‘Unicorn’ sighted for first time in over ten years
IUCN 16 Sep 10;

For the first time in more than ten years, there has been a confirmed sighting of one of the rarest and most enigmatic animals in the world, the Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) from the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam. The Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (also known as Laos) has announced that in late August villagers in the central province of Bolikhamxay captured a Saola and brought it back to their village.

When news of the Saola's capture reached Lao authorities, the Bolikhamxay Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office immediately sent a technical team, advised by the IUCN Saola Working Group and the Lao Programme of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), to examine the Saola and release it. Unfortunately, the animal, an adult male, weakened by the ordeal of several days in captivity, died shortly after the team reached the remote village. The animal was photographed while still alive.

"The government of Lao PDR and WCS are to be commended for their rapid response and efforts to save this animal. We hope the information gained from the incident can be used to ensure that this is not the last Saola anyone has a chance to see," says William Robichaud, Coordinator of the IUCN Saola Working Group.

This is the first confirmed record of the species since two photographs of wild Saola were taken in Laos by automatic camera traps in 1999.

The Saola was first discovered in 1992, in Vietnam's Vu Quang Nature Reserve, near the country's border with Laos. With their long horns and white facial markings, the Saola resembles the antelopes of North Africa, but is more closely related to wild cattle.

Saola are secretive and so seldom seen (no biologist has ever reported seeing one in the wild) that they have been likened to unicorns, in spite of the fact that they have two horns. It’s been speculated that a Chinese myth of a magical unicorn, the qilin, may have been derived from familiarity with Saola in prehistoric China, although the species does not occur there today, if it ever did.

The Saola is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ and probably no more than a few hundred exist . With none in zoos and almost nothing known about how to maintain them in captivity, extinction of Saola in the wild would mean its extinction everywhere.

"The death of this Saola is unfortunate,” says the Provincial Conservation Unit of Bolikhamxay Province. “But at least it confirms an area where it still occurs and the government will immediately move to strengthen conservation efforts there."

The animal was reportedly found in the village's sacred forest in remote Xaychamphon District, but it is not clear why the villagers took it into captivity. After its death, the technical team took the carcass to Pakxan, the provincial capital, where biologists from WCS and the Lao government preserved all parts for analysis, future study and reference. This is the first Saola specimen to be so completely preserved.

"Study of the carcass can yield some good from this unfortunate incident. Our lack of knowledge of Saola biology is a major constraint to efforts to conserve it,” says Dr. Pierre Comizzoli, a veterinarian with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and a member of the IUCN Saola Working Group. “This can be a major step forward in understanding this remarkable and mysterious species. It's clear that further awareness-raising efforts about the special status of Saola are needed but the Saola doesn't have much time left. At best a few hundred survive, but it may be only a few dozen.The situation is critical.”

The Lao Department of Forestry (DoF) and provincial and district authorities are urging villagers in the area not to capture Saola, and immediately release any they might encounter.

"As a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and as outlined in our National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy, Laos is committed to conserving biodiversity, and we want to give special attention to 'flagship species', such as the Saola," says Bouaphanh Phanthavong, Director of DoF's Division of Forest Resources Conservation and a member of the IUCN Saola Working Group.

"This incident highlights the importance of Laos to global wildlife conservation. Saola and several other rare endemic species are found almost nowhere else in the world,” says Ms. Latsamay Sylavong, the national representative for the IUCN Lao Programme. “Our knowledge of them is limited, and in Laos we need to improve protection of both the ecosystems and the special species they hold, like the Saola. Much needs to be done".

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Scientists trumpet new elephant shrew species

Elephant shrew weighing 600g caught in remote north-east Kenyan rainforest
Shanta Barley guardian.co.uk 16 Sep 10;

A team of scientists working in a Kenyan rainforest has discovered what is thought to be a new species of elephant shrew. Weighing in at a hefty 600g, the two-foot long creature is unusually large compared to other species.

The mammal, which is more closely related to elephants than to shrews, was caught on motion sensor cameras set up by the Zoological Society of London's Edge of Existence programme in the threatened Boni-Dodori rainforest, which sits on Kenya's north-eastern coast next to Somalia.

"It's really rare to discover a new species of mammal, and it's particularly remarkable that we've found a new species of elephant shrew just five years after the last one was discovered in Tanzania's Udzungwa mountains," says Raj Amin, who led the team. This brings the total number of elephant shrew (Macroscelidea) known to science to 18 species - all found in Africa.

The crew are yet to see one of the species alive, having caught one on camera and found a dead elephant shrew in one of their nets. Members of the Boni tribe also brought them two more dead specimens of the new species.

DNA from the samples is currently being analysed to confirm that the animal is a new species, but Amin remains confident: "You can distinguish elephant shrews based on their colour, and this one looks completely different from all the others."

"It doesn't have a golden rump, or a rufous-coloured face, or spots, but it does have grizzled yellow-brown sides and shoulders, a black rump and thighs and what appears to be a dark mane," says Amin. Because the animal was captured on camera during the day, it is also likely to be diurnal.

Until 2005, security was too tight for scientists to enter the Boni-Dodori forest but in 2008, Amin's team got permission to survey the area. They were amazed at how intact it was, as neighbouring regions have largely been logged and converted into biofuel farms.

"As it turns out, the Boni-Dodori forest is infested with sleeping sickness, a parasite transmitted by the tsetse fly, so herders and other people have left it well alone for the most part," says Amin.

After the inevitable buzz around finding a new species dies down, Amin hopes that the discovery will draw attention to the plight of the roughly 2,216 sq km patch of forest, which may not be protected by sleeping sickness for much longer.

"China wants to rebuild a nearby port in order to ship out minerals, and there are also plans for an oil pipeline," says Amin. "In addition, biofuel companies are growing crops on freshly deforested land that's less degraded, just to make a quick profit."

In January, WWF set up the first conservation project in the forest. The project will last for three years and produce an inventory of the forest's biodiversity.

Newfound Creature Is Neither Elephant Nor Shrew
Jeanna Bryner livescience.com Yahoo News 16 Sep 10;

A furry mammal with a trunk-like nose was caught scampering about in a remote African forest. This elephant shrew, a large one, is likely a new species.

Conservationists studying the biodiversity of the Boni-Dodori forest on the coast of northeastern Kenya had set up camera traps there after a scientist had spotted an elephant shrew (also called a sengi) she didn't recognize.

From the images of the new species, researchers now know the animal has maroon coloring on its sides, shoulders and back, and a lower rump that's jet-black. It's relatively large for an elephant shrew, weighing in at 1.3 pounds (600 grams) with a total length of 22 inches (550 millimeters), and a tail length of about 10 inches (250 mm).

The team, which included the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), will next analyze the animal's DNA to confirm whether or not it is indeed a new species of elephant shrew.

If it is a new species, that would make 18 species of sengi in the family Macroscelididae (13 species of soft-furred sengi and five species of the giant sengi). All are native to Africa. The animals are more closely related to elephants than shrews, despite being relatively small creatures - ranging from 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 centimeters) in length and weighing from less than a tenth of a pound to 1.5 pounds (30 to 700 grams).

The peculiar name is a reflection of their long, flexible, trunk-like noses, which they use to search for insect meals. The newly captured animal is a type of giant sengi, which have patterned coats and other distinct features from the smaller sengis.

"With their ancient and often misunderstood ancestry, their monogamous mating strategies, and their charismatic flexible snouts, they are captivating animals," study researcher Galen Rathbun from the California Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

In 2008, Rathbun announced another new species of giant sengi caught in the forests of Tanzania. Its weight gave this animal away: "From the moment I first lifted one of the animals into our photography tent, I knew it must be a new species - not just because of its distinct coloring, but because it was so heavy," Rathbun said in 2008 of that discovery.

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Gigantic spider's web discovered in Madagascar

Matt Walker BBC News 16 Sep 10;

A newly discovered species of spider living in Madagascar makes the world's longest known web, spanning 25m.

The spider also makes the largest orb web yet found for any spider, and constructs it out of the most tough biomaterial yet known, say scientists.

Darwin's bark spider, a species new to science, weaves its huge web over flowing rivers, stretching from bank to bank.

It is so big that it can catch 30 or more prey insects at any one time.

Darwin's bark spider weaves what experts call an orb web, the most familiar spider web design.

But this web is unusual as it is the largest orb web yet known to be made by any living spider, with the largest web measuring 2.8m².

The previous largest webs are spun by orb spiders belonging to the genus Nephila. Last year a new species of giant orb weaving spider (Nephila komaci) was discovered in Africa and Madagascar that can spin webs up to 1m across.

But even that web is dwarfed by those spun by Darwin's bark spider.

"They build their web with the orb suspended directly above a river or the water body of a lake, a habitat that no other spider can use," says Professor Ingi Agnarsson, the director of the Museum of Zoology at the University of Puerto Rico, in San Juan who made the discovery with colleagues.

That allows the spiders to catch insects flying over water, and explains why the web is so long.

To reach from one bank to the other, the spider must weave anchoring lines of up to 25m.

It also helps explain why the spider must weave it from such tough material, as the huge web must support its own weight and that of any prey it captures.

Prof Agnarsson and colleague Matjaz Kuntner, who also both work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, US, discovered the new spider species, which has the scientific name of Caerostris darwini, around the Namorona river in the Ranomafana NP and Fianarantsoa Province in eastern Madagascar.

Details of the spider and its behaviour are published in the Journal of Arachnology.

As in other related species, females dwarf the males.

The researchers found many webs spun by the spider, with most hanging vertically above the river, with some at an angles of up to 50º.

"Some of the webs qualify, to the best of our knowledge, as the largest spider webs ever documented," say the researchers in the journal.

Up to 32 unwrapped prey items, mainly mayflies, were found in a single web.

How the spiders spin such a huge web above water, and how they anchor their drag lines on either side of a river, is currently being researched.

Many of the webs showed obvious signs of damage and repair, while others had large open holes, suggesting that the spider maintains each web for several days.

Most orb weaving spiders take down and reconstruct their webs each day.

The spiders are able to weave such large webs, held up by such long drag lines, by using the toughest, most energy-absorbing silk ever discovered, tougher than any other known biological, and most man-made, materials.

Spider silks combine high strength with elasticity and are therefore already exceptionally tough, being able to absorb three times more energy before breaking than Kevlar, a material often used in bulletproof vests, say the researchers.

However, Darwin's bark spider weaves silk that is about 100% tougher than any other known silk, making it the toughest biological material known, say the researchers.

The have published details of the web's toughness in another scientific journal PLoS One.

Other spiders are capable of weaving giant webs.

For example, one huge web complex was found in 2007 in Texas.

But this web complex was not the work of one large spider.

Rather, millions of small ones weaved a series of interlaced webs that ended up covering an area twice the size of a football field.

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Breakthrough for cancer-hit Tasmanian Devils

Yahoo News 16 Sep 10;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian scientists said on Thursday they had made a breakthrough in the fight to save the cancer-hit Tasmanian devil by mapping the species' genome for the first time.

The dark, furry marsupials were declared endangered in 2009 after a contagious cancer began sweeping through the population, disfiguring their faces so badly they are unable to eat and starve to death.

Some 70 percent of devils have already been lost to the infectious disease, which is spread by biting as the feisty creatures mate and fight over animal carcasses.

But researchers working to save the dwindling species said the genome sequence opened a new path to understanding where the cancer attacked and how it could potentially be treated.

"This sequence is invaluable and comes at a crucial time," lead researcher Elizabeth Murchison said.

"By comparing our draft sequence with samples taken from many hundreds of devils suffering from this cancer, we can begin to look at the spread of the disease... by identifying geographical routes and barriers in its transmission," she added.

"This knowledge could ultimately shape the ongoing conservation efforts in Tasmania."

Murchison said the information would allow scientists to identify which mutations had actually caused the devils' cancer "and perhaps allow us to target those mutant genes with particular drugs".

But Murchison, from the Australian National University, stressed the map was just the first step on what was likely to be a long and difficult road.

"Cancer is caused by a number of quite random mutations that occur in the genome. Actually finding out which ones of those cause the cancer is quite a challenge and something that we still have ahead of us," Murchison told ABC radio.

Scientists believe the cancer could wipe out the entire wild population of devils within 20 to 50 years, and experts have been capturing and breeding healthy animals in zoos for past six years to develop a buffer group.

Their work suffered a setback last month when a devil thought to be immune to the cancer, Cedric, died in captivity, dashing hopes scientists were nearing a cure.

Tasmanian devils first came to prominence when their unearthly shrieks and grunts while devouring animal corpses terrified European settlers arriving in Tasmania in the 19th century.

Some 150 years later, the devil has been made famous by "Taz", a Warner Brothers cartoon character that now fronts the conservation campaign to save the species.

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Grave threat to chimps population in Sierra Leone

Yahoo News 16 Sep 10;

FREETOWN (AFP) – Local wildlife experts in Sierra Leone on Thursday highlighted what they called a "grave threat to the chimps population" in the west African state.

At a meeting to develop a comprehensive conservation action plan for chimpanzees in the country, the office of the director-general of the ministry of agriculture warned that "the estimated 5,000 chimp population is under grave threat mainly due to the desire of local rural communities for bush meat."

"As the country stands today, chimps remain endangered in Sierra Leone despite a de facto ban on the possession, hunting and killing of chimpanzees for whatever reason," the ministry added in a statement.

Addressing the event, Director of Forestry Sheku Mansaray noted that "chimps are indicators of the health of the environment. Improper agricultural practices as well as threats from mining and logging are also impacting a toll on the chimps population."

The programme director of the Chimpanzee Conservation Sanctuary in Tacugama, Bala Amarasekaran, warned that "if the demand for bush meat continues, the chimp population will definitely dwindle.

"It will be a pity as we can use chimps as a flagship species for Sierra Leone."

Amarasekaran disclosed that an international conference on the viability of population habitats for chimpanzees will be held in Sierra Leone in January 2011.

According to a National Chimpanzee Census released in August, some 252 out of 507 communities in the country said "they would eat chimpanzee meat if it is available."

"Some reported eating the meat for (untested) medical reasons (such as cures for river blindness and tuberculosis) while others reported killing chimps to protect their farmlands," the survey said.

Bushmeat is traditional to many Sierra Leoneans who eat antelopes, deer and squirrels, but customs border officers told AFP that chimpanzee meat makes up a large percentage of bush meat smuggled frequently across the border to neighbouring Guinea and Liberia where it fetches high prices.

"We normally intercept a good quality of chimp meat, but others make their way through illegal spots," one custom officer, Ibrahim Kamara, said.

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'Green' vehicles share 10-million-dollar X prize

Yahoo News 16 Sep 10;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Three teams -- two American and one Swiss -- shared a 10-million-dollar jackpot awarded Thursday by the X Prize Foundation for developing cars that exceeded 100 miles per gallon (42.5 kilometers per liter) or its energy equivalent.

A host of senior US politicians and auto executives looked on as the foundation, which promotes innovation in various fields, handed out its awards to the teams that beat out 108 other groups from around the world.

The big winner was Edison2, an upstart energy company based in Lynchburg in the US state of Virginia, which walked away with a cool five million dollars for its "Very Light Car," a four-person sedan that managed 102.5 miles per gallon (43.6 km per liter) on a test track in Michigan.

Edison2's vehicle, which runs on E85 ethanol and weighs in at a feather-light 830 pounds (377 kilograms), was built out of steel and aluminum and has snazzy racing aesthetics that dramatically cut down on drag. Its wheels are well outside the frame and the doors open upwards like gull wings.

"Our car has the best greenhouse gas efficiency" of the competitors, said Edison2's founder and president Oliver Kuttner.

Li-ion Motors Corp of Mooresville, North Carolina earned 2.5 million dollars winning the side-by-side, two-seater class with its Wave II, an electric vehicle powered by lithium batteries that recorded the equivalent of 187 miles per gallon (79.5 kilometers per liter).

The X-Tracer team out of Winterthur, Switzerland also won 2.5 million dollars, for its oval-shaped two-seater enclosed motorcycle that deploys two smaller side wheels at lower speeds.

In total, 111 teams from 26 countries submitted 136 vehicles to participate in the contest, launched by the non-profit foundation and an auto insurance firm in 2008, amid a US energy crisis and record high gas prices.

X Prize Foundation chairman Peter Diamandis said the innovation prize paralleled an increased awareness of the need to improve fuel efficiency.

"We've seen a shift in the market since we first launched this competition, and a greater awareness by people everywhere to think more seriously about the actions we take, and how they affect our environment," Diamandis said.

"Gas mileage ranks as one of our top concerns when purchasing a new vehicle and I believe strongly that the innovations showcased throughout the life of this competition will continue to impact and improve our car-buying options for the future."

Praising the competitors, Democratic lawmaker Ed Markey said that all the oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico after a rig explosion earlier this year represents "six hours of the oil consumption of the US."

"The time has come to end this destructive addiction to oil," he added.

The foundation said the winning teams, armed with their prize money and US-funded technical assistance, will seek to "catapult their vehicle into the consumer market."

The non-profit promotes scientific and technological advances in all fields. It recently launched the Google Lunar X Prize, a 30-million-dollar competition to land a robot on the moon, travel over its surface and beam photos and data from its journey back to Earth.

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New report highlights two-way link between ozone layer and climate change

UNEP 16 Sep 10;

Geneva/Nairobi, 16 September 2010 - International efforts to protect the ozone layer-the shield that protects life on Earth from harmful levels of ultraviolet rays-are a success and have stopped additional ozone losses and contributed to mitigating the greenhouse effect, according to a new report.

The executive summary of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010 (pdf) provides new information about the effects of climate change on the ozone layer, as well as the impact of ozone changes on the Earth's climate.

The report was written and reviewed by some 300 scientists and launched on the UN International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. It is the first comprehensive update in four years.

The report reaffirms that the Montreal Protocol is working. "It has protected the stratospheric ozone layer from much higher levels of depletion by phasing out production and consumption of ozone depleting substances."

Given that many substances that deplete the ozone layer are also potent greenhouse gases, the report says that the Montreal Protocol has "provided substantial co-benefits by reducing climate change." In 2010, the reduction of ozone depleting substances as a result of the Montreal Protocol, expressed in CO2-equivalent emissions (about 10 Gigatonnes per year), were five times larger than those targeted by the first commitment period (2008-2012) of the Kyoto Protocol, the greenhouse emissions reduction treaty.

The report published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says that an important remaining scientific challenge is to project future ozone abundance based on an understanding of the complex linkages between ozone and climate change.

Changes in climate are expected to have an increasing influence on stratospheric ozone in the coming decades, it says. "These changes derive principally from the emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide, associated with human activities."

Key findings on the ozone layer:

* Over the past decade, global ozone and ozone in the Arctic and Antarctic regions is no longer decreasing but is not yet increasing.

* As a result of the phase-out of ozone depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer outside the Polar regions is projected to recover to its pre-1980 levels some time before the middle of this century. The recovery might be speeded up by greenhouse gas-induced cooling of the upper stratosphere.

* In contrast, the springtime ozone hole over the Antarctic is expected to recover much later.

* The impact of the Antarctic ozone hole on surface climate is becoming evident, leading to important changes in surface temperature and wind patterns.

* It is reaffirmed that at mid-latitudes, surface UV radiation has been about constant over the last decade.

* In Antarctica large UV levels continue to be seen when the springtime ozone hole is large.

Key findings on ozone depleting substances and substitutes:

Many ozone depleting chemicals, such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), once present in products such as refrigerators and spray cans, have been phased out. Demand for replacement substances called HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) and HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) has increased. Many of these are powerful greenhouse gases.

* Total emissions of HCFCs are projected to begin to decline in the coming decade due to measures agreed under the Montreal Protocol in 2007. But they are currently increasing faster than four years ago. The most abundant one, HCFC-22, increased more than 50% faster in 2007-2008 than in 2003-2004.

* Abundances and emissions of HFCs are increasing at about 8% per year. HFC-23 is a byproduct of HCFC-22 production. Although it has no impact on the ozone layer it is more than 14,000 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director said: "This represents a further potential area for action within the overall climate change challenge. An international group of modellers working with UNEP recently concluded that current commitments and pledges linked with the Copenhagen Accord are unlikely to keep a global temperature rise to under 2°C by 2050. The gap between scientific reality and ambition is estimated to average around 4.7 Gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent per year-a gap that needs to be urgently bridged over the next decade or so if the 2°C target is to be met."

Commenting on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, he added: "Today's report underlines that action to protect the ozone layer has not only been a success, but continues to deliver multiple benefits to economies including on efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals. The contribution to combating climate change is one, but so are the direct benefits to public health. For without the Montreal Protocol and its associated Vienna Convention atmospheric levels of ozone-depleting substances could have increased tenfold by 2050. This in turn could have led to up to 20 million more cases of skin cancer and 130 million more cases of eye cataracts, not to speak of damage to human immune systems, wildlife and agriculture."

"The ozone-hole issue demonstrates the importance of long-term atmospheric monitoring and research, without which ozone destruction would have continued unabated and might not have been detected until more serious damage was evident," said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. "The Montreal Protocol is an outstanding example of collaboration among scientists and decision-makers that has resulted in the successful mitigation of a serious environmental and societal threat.''

"Human activities will continue to change the composition of the atmosphere. WMO's Global Atmosphere Watch programme will therefore continue its crucial monitoring, research and assessment activities to provide scientific data needed to understand and ultimately predict environmental changes on both regional and global scales," said Mr Jarraud.

The Scientific Assessment Panel will present the Executive Summary of the new report at the next annual Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, to be held in Kampala, Uganda, from 8 to 12 November 2010.

The full body of the report will be available in early 2011.

The International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 16 September marks the signature date, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

UN scientists say ozone layer depletion has stopped
Yahoo News 16 Sep 10;

GENEVA (AFP) – The protective ozone layer in the earth's upper atmosphere has stopped thinning and should largely be restored by mid century thanks to a ban on harmful chemicals, UN scientists said on Thursday.

The "Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010" report said a 1987 international treaty that phased out chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) -- substances used in refrigerators, aerosol sprays and some packing foams --- had been successful.

Ozone provides a natural protective filter against harmful ultra-violet rays from the sun, which can cause sunburn, cataracts and skin cancer as well as damage vegetation.

First observations of a seasonal ozone hole appearing over the Antarctic occurred in the 1970s and the alarm was raised in the 1980s after it was found to be worsening under the onslaught of CFCs, prompting 196 countries to join the Montreal Protocol.

"The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 to control ozone depleting substances is working, it has protected us from further ozone depletion over the past decades," said World Meteorological Organisation head of research Len Barrie.

"Global ozone, including ozone in the polar region is not longer decreasing but not yet increasing," he told journalists.

The 300 scientists who compiled the four yearly ozone assessment now expect that the ozone layer in the stratosphere will be restored to 1980 levels in 2045 to 2060, according to the report, "slightly earlier" than expected.

Although CFCs have been phased out, they accumulated and persist in the atmosphere and the effect of the curbs takes years to filter through.

The ozone hole over the South Pole, which varies in size and is closely monitored when it appears in springtime each year, is likely to persist even longer and may even be aggravated by climate change, the report said.

Scientists are still getting to grips with the complex interaction between ozone depletion and global warming, Barrie explained.

"In the Antarctic, the impact of the ozone hole and the surface climate is becoming evident," he said.

"This leads to important changes in surface temperature and wind patterns, amongst other environmental changes," Barrie added.

CFCs are classified among greenhouse gases that cause global warming, so the phase out "provided substantial co-benefits by reducing climate change," the report found.

Barrie estimated that it had avoided about 10 gigatonnes of such emissions a year.

However, the ozone-friendly substances that have replaced CFCs in plastics or as refrigerants - hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) -- are also powerful greenhouse gases.

HFCs alone are regarded as 14,000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the focus of international efforts to tackle climate change, and HFC emissions are growing by eight percent a year, according to UN agencies.

"This represents a further potential area for action within the overall climate change challenge," said UN Environment Programme chief Achim Steiner in a statement.

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