New report of the United Nations Scientific Assessment Panel

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The United Nations Scientific Assessment Panel published the quadrennial assessment report on the implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

This protocol is an international treaty on the control of ozone-depleting substances. About 99% of those banned substances are phased out. Thus, the ozone layer is predicted to recover over the Atlantic by 2066, over the Arctic by 2045, and by 2040 in the rest of the world. The Montreal Protocol also seems to impact global warming, as it is estimated to reduce the predicted temperature rise by 0.3–0.5°C in the year 2100.

The 2022 Assessment Report is available here:

Environmental Effects of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, UV Radiation, and Interactions with Climate Change: 2022 Assessment Report

A supplement useful for teaching and popularization of science purposes has also been published:

Questions and Answers about the Effects of Ozone Depletion, UV Radiation, and Climate on Humans and the Environment

UV4Pigments – From Invisible to Colourful: Interactions of Plant Pigments and UV Light

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The workshop ‘UV4Pigments – From Invisible to Colourful: Interactions of Plant Pigments and UV Light’ was held and successfully completed on 17-18 April 2023, at Szekszárd Hungary.

The Workshop was organized by The International Association of Plant UV Research UV4Plants, with the UV Photobiology Research Team of the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Pécs as local organizers. There were 32 participants, including 15 early-stage researchers; representing 14 laboratories.

Most delegates arrived Sunday, on the 16th of April and informal discussions have already started during dinner. The official program started Monday morning and lasted for two full days. There were 27 talks, including 7 short presentations from early-stage researchers, who presented the results of pilot experiments or thesis plans. Topics highlighted the role of pigments in acclimation to changing environments in a variety of organisms: vascular plants, bryophytes, and thallophytes; showed the potential of UV to modify pigment patterns both indoors and outdoors. Two group discussions were held, a short one on technical aspects of plant UV measurements, and an extended one on future joint experiments. Delegates agreed on the importance of UV as a tool to create healthier, more nutritious edible plants in indoor growth systems. Informal discussions continued during tea- and lunch breaks and several new collaborations were decided on. A special merit of the event was to bring new members to UV4Plants.

The workshop ended with a closing dinner on the 18th of May, which gave the chance to discuss the results of the organoleptic evaluation of polyphenol-rich grapevine extracts, a.k.a. wine-tasting.

The 4th Network Meeting of the UV4Plants Association – Thank you for participation

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It is high time for a summary of the 4th Network Meeting of the UV4Plants Association. The conference took place in Kraków, Poland from the 3rd to the 6th of July. It was organized at the Jagiellonian University by Justyna łabuz, Agnieszka Katarzyna Banaś, and Wojciech Strzałka. 60 scientists from 14 European countries and South and North Americas at the different stages of their scientific careers had an opportunity to exchange and share their experiences and results on different aspects of UV radiation.

The participants had an opportunity to hear 24 talks grouped into six sessions, concentrating on topics related to plant adaptation and acclimation, UV light under natural conditions, different aspects of UVR8, and other photoreceptor signaling or UV-induced DNA damage and repair. The last session focused on practical applications of UV radiation. 26 posters were presented during the conference. Two of them were distinguished with prices founded by Agrisera and UV4Plants Association. The first award went to Neha Rai from the University of Geneva, Switzerland who presented a very interesting poster about “The UV-B photoreceptor mediated transcriptional regulation”. The second awardee was Gyula Czégény from the University of Pécs, Hungary who presented his work entitled “UVR8 mutation affects acclimative responses of plants developed under different environmental UV conditions”.

Young scientists and new UV4Plants Members had an opportunity to participate in the UV4Plants Training School preceding the conference. Among numerous topics, the school participants were supported in the proper design of UV-plant experiments and the practical part containing measurements of UV radiation and chlorophyll fluorescence. During the UV4Plants General Meeting, the current and future activities and plans of the Association were discussed. Please refer to the Minutes of General Meeting UV4Plants Association 2022 for further details. Neha Rai has been selected as the young scientist representative for the UV4Plants Managing Committee. The meetings provided an opportunity to meet in person, conduct lively discussions, and network. Thank you for coming!