The Zahara-El Gastor reservoir in southern Spain is a vital source of water for agriculture and recreation. The critical drought affecting the province of Cádiz has left the reservoir at nearly 6% of its capacity, a worrying level that threatens access to water for surrounding communities. The lack of water is clearly visible in this Copernicus...

Lake Chapala, the largest freshwater lake in Mexico, is located in the state of Jalisco. It is the primary source of water supply for the Guadalajara metropolitan area and supports a rich biodiversity of aquatic life, including numerous fish species and migratory birds. Since 2009, the reservoir has been declared a wetland of international...

Isle Royale, covering 54,200 hectares, is located in the remote western part of Lake Superior, between Minnesota, USA and Thunder Bay, Canada. The island serves as a haven for wildlife biologists, providing a unique setting to study wolves and moose in their natural habitat, free from human interference.  Since 1958, researchers have conducted...

Coral bleaching is a marine phenomenon which occurs when corals expel the algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn white or pale. This expulsion is often triggered by environmental stressors such as rising water temperatures, pollution, or changes in ocean chemistry. Without the colourful algae, corals lose their primary source of...

Situated at an elevation of 5,100 metres above sea level, La Rinconada stands as the permanent settlement located at the highest elevation in the world. Nested in the Puno region of Peru, this historic mining town boasts abundant gold reserves. Following the increase in the price of gold between 2001 and 2009, the population of La Rinconada saw...

This visualisation, based on data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), shows the global surface air temperature anomaly for January 2024. According to C3S data, January 2024 was the warmest January on record globally, with an average surface air temperature of 13.14°C. The month was 1.66°C warmer than the estimate of the January...

On 8 February, the Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted for the third time since December 2023. The lava flow has disrupted the hot water supply to more than 20,000 households, and the local Civil Protection Agency has raised its alert level to emergency status for the whole Reykjanes Peninsula region. This image of the eruption was acquired by one...

Chile has been ravaged by forest fires, particularly in the Valparaíso region, where nearly 8,700 hectares have been devastated by the 5-day blaze. More than 6,000 people have been displaced in the region and at least 131 casualties have been reported. The authorities have declared the wildfires contained, but firefighters are still working to...

In Sardinia, Italy, the lack of rainfall and resulting drought has reduced water reserves to less than 50% of their total capacity and local authorities have imposed restrictions on the use of water resources. These images of Lake Alto del Flumendosa, which supplies fresh water to a large part of eastern Sardinia were acquired by one of the...

Like many other countries in Europe, France has experienced an unusually warm January, with temperatures remaining above 0ºC in the French Pyrenees region and, as a consequence, a lack of snow in the area. Some ski resorts have temporarily closed due to the almost complete absence of snow, while others have shut down for this year's ski season....

Severe forest fires continue to rage in Chile. According to Interior Minister Carolina Tohá, there are currently around 90 active wildfires  in various areas, which have burned at least 43,000 hectares. A minimum of 112 casualties have been reported and a state of emergency has been declared. This image of Chile, acquired by one of the...

The 3,000 kilometre-long Yukon River is a vital artery through the wilderness of Alaska. It has its source in British Columbia, and flows northwest, cutting through the vast Alaskan landscape before ending its course in the Bering Sea.  The Yukon River Delta is a vast expanse of marshes, channels and wetlands and is one of the largest in North...

Egypt is largely a desert country. The Nile has been its most important resource for centuries. In recent years, it has been used to create new agricultural areas in geological depressions in the Sahara, such as the Toshka region shown in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image of 30 January 2024. The circular shapes in the image are characteristic of...

Since 2022, water levels in Cataluña's reservoirs have been falling as a result of the extreme drought affecting the region.  This has led to the reservoirs reaching critically low levels, forcing the local authorities to declare a state of emergency on 1 February 2024, including measures to ensure the restriction of water use for agricultural,...

Located in Argentina's Patagonia region, Los Alerces National Park is a sanctuary of ancient forests, lakes and rugged mountains. Famous for its namesake ancient alerce trees, some of which are over 3,000 years old, it is home to a wide range of flora and fauna, as well as the indigenous Tehuelche communities. A wildfire has been raging in the...

The Emperor Penguin is a species vulnerable to the effects of climate change and could be almost extinct by the end of the century. It breeds in colonies of thousands of individuals in Antarctica, leaving a trail of guano in the ice that can be seen from space.   Four unreported colonies have recently been discovered in Antarctica using...

South America is facing a severe drought caused by El Niño and a forest fire crisis. In Venezuela, more than 8,000 hotspots have been reported by Hidromet-UCV across the country, with the Venezuelan Andes being the most affected area. In neighbouring Colombia, more than 340 fires have been recorded since November 2023, and nearly 17,000...

Gulmarg is a popular ski destination in the Western Himalayas. After an unprecedentedly warm season with only one day of snow in December 2023 and none in January, it is suffering from an almost complete lack of snow. This has a serious impact on the economy of local communities that rely on winter sports tourism. The lack of snow cover can be...

The Missolonghi-Aitoliko Lagoons, located on the western coast of Greece, form a mosaic of wetlands, salt marshes and shallow waters. They provide a refuge for a wide variety of flora and fauna, including migratory birds such as flamingos, herons and pelicans. Considered one of the most important wetlands in the Mediterranean basin, they are an...

This image of Gavarda, a town in the Valencian Community (Spain), was acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 25 January 2024. On that day, Western Europe was hit by an unseasonable heatwave, with record temperatures in several areas. In Spain, Gavarda recorded 30.7ºC, the highest air temperature ever recorded in Europe in...