The situation arising from the unusually low water levels caused by the El Niño-induced drought in Gatun Lake in Panama recently triggered restrictions and limited the number of ships allowed to sail through the Panama Canal to 22 per day. However, recent rains in November surpassed expectations and brought relief to the area. As a result, the...

On Friday, 15 December 2023, at 00:39 UTC, a new eruption started at the Anak Krakatau volcano in Indonesia. It emitted an ash column that reached approximately 200 meters above its summit. The seismic activity associated with this event was captured on seismographs, registering a maximum amplitude of 47 mm and a duration of about 15 seconds....

Bird Island, located in the Antarctic Ocean near South Georgia, serves as critical habitat for numerous species of seabirds and fur seals. In October, the first cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the Antarctic region were detected on Bird Island. The virus has led to hundreds of fatalities among elephant seals, along with...

Himalayan glaciers are predicted to lose up to 75 per cent of their ice by the end of the century due to global warming, and their melting poses serious risks, particularly from glacial lakes formed by the melting of the ice. These lakes, when they overflow or become unstable, can cause devastating floods, severely affecting villages and...

A Saharan dust storm and an out unseasonal heatwave are affecting the Canary Islands in the second decade of December. The Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) issued a pre-alert for the Canary Islands, as the "calima" could affect air quality in the archipelago.  This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 12...

We talk a lot about how Copernicus can help mitigate the effects of climate change. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) helps us track greenhouse gas emissions, and bulletins from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) show us how they are evolving. But Copernicus data and services can also help on another front – the...

International cooperation on environmental climate change

Tititaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America, and is located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The ongoing drought has significantly reduced the lake's water levels, impacting the entire local economy. Industries such as fishing, agriculture, and livestock farming are suffering in the region, and many of the usual navigation routes...

Portugal is at the forefront of the renewable energy sector. This image acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite on 12 November shows the solar plant of Alcoutim, the largest of the country.   Located in the south-eastern region of Portugal, this sprawling solar farm covers a vast area and harnesses the abundant sunlight to...

Aruba is a Caribbean island located off the coast of Venezuela. Its wetlands are invaluable natural treasures, playing a vital role in the island's ecosystem and beyond. They serve as critical habitats for a wide range of wildlife, from migratory birds to endemic species, providing them shelter, breeding grounds, and food. Four of Aruba's...

This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 8 December, shows Storm Jasper as it passed northeast of Australia.  Jasper is a tropical storm which the beginning of the tropical cyclone season in the southern Pacific. According to the latest forecast from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Jasper is expected to...

Over the weekend of 2-3 December, a heavy snowstorm hit Munich, Germany's third-largest city. The storm brought a record-breaking amount of snow for a month of December, with almost half a metre of snowfall. This was also the heaviest snowstorm to affect the region since March 2006. As a result of the weather forecast for Tuesday 5...

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has recently released its latest monthly Climate Bulletin, which highlights that November 2023 was the warmest November on record globally. This data visualisation, based on ERA5 C3S data, illustrates the surface air temperature anomaly (ATA) from January 1940 to November 2023. It shows that the ATA...

WG Africa | Brussels | English

This image acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 19 November shows the town of Babcock Ranch, in Florida. It is one of the first communities to be built to resist extreme weather events. Its area is about five times that of Manhattan. It has numerous lakes which act as retention ponds to protect homes from flooding. Roads...

The Albufera Lagoon is located in the Albufera Natural Park, in the autonomous region of Valencia in Spain. Since 1989, the Park has been registered as a Ramsar Site and a Wetland of International Importance. It is characterised by the striking green colours of its shallow waters, but during the month of October 2023, the lagoon began to...

Scientific article published in open access about Photosynthetically active radiation data for Agriculture, horticulture and other applications.

The first winter storm of 2023 brought heavy snowfall to southern Germany and parts of Austria, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, leading to travel disruptions across the region.  Munich airport declared a halt to air traffic on Saturday 3 December and Zurich’s airport also announced weather-related delays and flight cancellations.  In this...

Cyclone Michaung is the 6th named storm of the 2023 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.  It is expected to make landfall on 4 December on the east coast of the Indian Peninsula, where an orange cyclone alert has been issued for the provinces of Andhra Pradesh and adjoining North Tamil Nadu-Puducherry.  The area is expected to experience heavy...

The El Niño induced floods continue in the Horn of Africa. The consequences of the torrential rains have affected more than two million people in several areas of Somalia, with over 100 casualties reported and 750,000 persons displaced. This image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 30 November, shows the region of...