Once classified as a category 5 Hurricane, Lee has weakened and transformed into a “post-tropical cyclone”, impacting the Nova Scotia region after passing through New England and eastern Canada. Winds of up to 112 km/h have been reported, along with heavy rainfall that has led to coastal road flooding and power outages in many areas. On 16...

Heavy spring rain, followed by drought and the development of fungus on vine leaves, could potentially lead to a 12% loss in this season's grape harvest in central Italy, as reported by UIV, Assoenologi , and the ISMEA agriculture institute.  Grape downy mildew, a condition caused by the “plasmopara viticola” fungus, is impacting the grapes,...

On 10 September 2023, heavy rains caused by Storm Daniel’s flooded many cities in eastern Libya, the city of Derna being the worst hit. More than 30,000 people have been displaced after the flooding in Derna, and 5,100 casualties are reported to date. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) Rapid Mapping module has been activated...

On 11 September, the Norwegian Ocean Explorer cruise ship ran aground in a remote fjord of the Northeast Greenland National Park. With 200 passengers on board, it is awaiting a rescue that will take several days since the nearest vessel capable of helping is approximately 2,000 km away. Local Authorities have confirmed that all passengers are...

On 10 September, after its journey through the Mediterranean Basin, Storm Daniel hit the Libyan cities of Derna and Benghazi, wiping off buildings and catching citizens by surprise. Two days after the landfall, over 8,000 people are reported missing, with 5,200 confirmed casualties.  These two images, acquired by one of the Copernicus...

On 8 September 2023 at 22:11 UTC, a 6.8 Magnitude earthquake struck the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains, southwest of Marrakech. The earthquakes hasresulted in more than 2,800 casualties and over 2,500 injuries to date. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) Rapid Mapping module has been activated (EMSR695) to assess the damages...

Heavy rainfall in Greece has led to large-scale flooding in the Thessaly region, affecting thousands of hectares of territory. On 9 September, 3 days after the start of the floods, several villages continued to be completely cut off. Firefighters have rescued more than 2,850 people since the beginning of the floods.  This image, captured on 10...

On 5 September, a storm named Daniel formed in the Mediterranean Sea and within a week, it developed into a Medicane (or Mediterranean Hurricane).  In this image acquired by the SLSTR thermal instrument of the Copernicus Sentinel-3B satellite on 9 September at 20:30 UTC, we can see it as it moved north of Benghazi towards the Libyan coast...

Hurricane Lee formed in the Atlantic Ocean at the beginning of September 2023. Before being lowered to category 3, Lee surprised scientists on 5 September by intensifying at a rate double the one defined as “rapid intensification” by the US National Hurricane Centre’s . The hurricane grew from Category 1 to Category 5 in just 24 hours. Lee’s...

Since 2016 the Adamello glacier, the largest in Italy, has retreated ~200m due to global warming. According to the Intergovernamental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) this region of the Alps will see temperatures rising by between 3 and 6 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. This heat and longer lasting summers, combined with the lack of...

In 2022, sea ice extent in Antarctica was the lowest ever recorded in the satellite era. A recent study, published in the prestigious Communications Earth & Environment scientific journal, revealed that during that year, four emperor penguin colonies 'skipped a generation' due to the premature melting of sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea,...

Storm Daniel, visible in this image acquired today, 6 September, at 08:48 UTC, is causing devastating floods in Greece, Türkiye, and Bulgaria.  There are at least seven casualties, including two tourists in northwestern Türkiye. In Istanbul, the heavy rainfall resulted in flooded streets and homes, claiming two lives. Greece experienced record...

This image acquired by one of the two Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 4 September 2023 shows a massive Saharan dust plume stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic Ocean.  This dust plume, which at the time of the image acquisition extended over about 2,000 kilometres, is travelling in the direction of...

During the first weekend of September 2023, a slow-moving storm system, officially known as an upper-level isolated depression (DANA), has affected Spain, causing heavy rains and floods. The storm, as seen in this image acquired by a Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite on 3 September, caused two casualties in Huesca. The Spanish Meteorological...

On 18 August, one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites acquired this image of Pantelleria.  The island, nestled in the Aegadian Archipelago (Italy), is a stopover for migratory birds. It been granted the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage status and is part of the Natura2000 network, recognised as a Special Protected Area and a Special Area...

Relentless wildfires in Canada continue to produce vast amounts of smoke, leading to poor air quality conditions across the northern hemisphere. On 31 August, the smoke cloud reached Italy, Albania, and Greece after travelling over 10,000 kilometres, as visible in this Copernicus Sentinel-3 image acquired on the same day.  According to the...

On 30 August, Hurricane Idalia reached category 3 before making landfall southeast of Tallahassee in a marshy and thinly populated part of Florida. It weakened and advanced through the Georgia and South Carolina as a tropical storm, causing extensive flooding and “dangerous coastal inundation”. Throughout Florida, neighbourhoods were flooded,...

Wildfires continue to plague Canada in, making this the worst wildfire season on record and exacerbating ongoing air quality issues due to dense smoke. The country has been ravaged by fires for the past three months, with numerous new blazes rapidly spreading across Alberta, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories in recent days. The...

This image shows a plume of Saharan dust reaching Greece and was acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 29 August 2023. The large plume stretches hundreds of kilometres from the coast of Libya to the shores near the town of Pyrgos in Greece. These dust plumes have an impact on air quality. The Copernicus Atmospheric...

Firefighters continue efforts to mitigate the fire that started near the town of Alexandroupoli and has already spread to the Evros region reaching the vicinity of the towns of Kotronia and Dadia where efforts are intensifying. The Dadia forest is severely affected and remains at risk if the wind picks up. On Monday 28 August, 474 firefighters,...