GENEVA: The seasonal hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has widened to near-record size, the United Nations said on Thursday, insisting though that efforts to save the earth’s protective shield were still working.

The World Meteorological Organisation said colder-than-usual high altitude temperatures over the Antarctic combined with ozone-eating gases lingering in the atmosphere had stretched the ozone hole to an average of 26.9 million square kilometres over a 30-day period — covering an area larger than all of North America.

“This is the third largest observed after the record-breaking ozone holes in 2000 and 2006,” the UN’s climate and weather agency said in a statement.

The hole peaked on Oct 2, when it measured 28.2 million square kilometres, according to the measurements conducted by the US space agency Nasa.—AFP