the ozone layer over Antarctica has depleted severely, according to the World Meteorological Organisation ( wmo ), a un agency. "The latest satellite observations in the sunlight portion of the Antarctica perimetre show an average decrease of about 30 per cent in the total amount of ozone overhead when compared to the 1964-76 norms,' said wmo officials . Preliminary ground-based measurements taken between August 16-22, 2000 from four Antarctic stations also indicate that there has been a substantial depletion. France's Dumont d'Urville reported ozone levels to be down by 20 per cent, Russia's Mirny reported 35 per cent depletion, Japan's Syowa and Ukraine's Vernadsky found out that the layer had reduced by 25 per cent. "Any year could be a record year,' says Michael Proffitt, wmo 's senior scientific officer and ozone expert. Sunlight is expected to reach the South Pole around September 21-22, 2000. This will enable scientist to make further measurements.