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The latest UNEP update from the EEAP (Environmental Effects Assessment Panel) is out today in PPS.  The report summarizes developments during the past 12 months in our understanding of the effects of ozone depletion and climate changes related issues.

The update precedes a full assessment of our knowledge of the effects of ozone depletion, which we will start to put together when the panel meet in Malaga, Spain next week. The report is divided into sections on: 1. Ozone–climate interactions and effects on solar ultraviolet radiation at the Earth’s surface; 2. Ultraviolet radiation and human health in a changing climate; 3. Implications for terrestrial ecosystems in response to ozone depletion, ultraviolet radiation and interactive effects of rapid climate change; 4. Effects of ultraviolet radiation and climate change on aquatic ecosystems; 5. Interactive effects of solar ultraviolet radiation and climate change on biogeochemical cycles; 6. Interactive effects of changing stratospheric ozone and climate on air quality and composition of the troposphere; 7. Interactive effects of solar ultraviolet radiation and climate change on damage to materials.

Congratulations to David Israel on being granted funding from the Finnish Cultural Foundation to continue his doctoral research project on the ecophysiology of aquaporin’s role in plant function, supervised by Matthew Robson and Janusz Zwiazek.

David is currently in Edmonton visiting Janusz Zwiazek’s group at the University of Alberta, where he is growing PIP aquaporin mutants of Arabidopsis in hydroponics to test their role in root architecture and function.

How a PIP aquaporin channels water through the membrane

On the 10th October we participated in the ViPS Science Fair where researchers could come along and find out about our research in the CanSEE group as well as the rest of the Viikki Plant Science Centre.

If you are interested in doing a research project with our group get in touch with David Israel (Plant Aquaporin Water Relations), Titta Kotilainen (Applying Photobiology Innovations in Plant Production Settings), Craig Brelsford (Light Responses of Forest Plants in Spring), or Marta Pieriste (Decomposition under Contrasting Forest Canopies) by email <firstname.lastname@helsinki.fi>.

From 15-21st September we organised an international course in Plants and Climate Change for the DPPS at the University of Helsinki, with invited speakers giving us the benefit of their expertise over the course of the week. A diverse group of students attended with participants from Mexico, Columbia, and Bangladesh, as well as those from the University of Helsinki.

Thanks to all of the lecturers and student who made this a lively and educational course and who gave very positive feedback on the week.

I was very lucky to be in Stratford-upon-Avon, helping to write the latest UNEP report on the effects of the ozone depletion and related climate change on terrestrial ecosystems, during the 30-year celebrations of the signing of the Montreal Protocol.

The international cooperation achieved to implement the Montreal Protocol to stop the production of ozone depleting substances is the best example of cooperation to solve a man-made global problem that would otherwise have catastrophically affected our climate and life of Earth, and serve as a landmark example for future political action on climate change.

You can find out more on the UNEP website or learn about their Ozone Heroes Campaign.