In August 2025, multiple wildfires broke out along the border between Spain and Portugal, affecting natural parks and municipalities, particularly in Galicia and León.  As visible in this false-colour image, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on 5 September 2025, the most affected areas are concentrated around the...

Satellites provide a unique vantage point from above, enabling unparalleled observation of global events. Whether monitoring floods using radar data or providing insights into deforestation through optical imagery, the Copernicus Sentinel missions are instrumental in capturing the state of our planet in remarkable detail. Beyond their ability...

The Galápagos National Park, created in 1959, protects 97% of the islands’ unique wildlife, including giant tortoises and marine iguanas. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it balances conservation with sustainable tourism and inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. This artistic impression of the Marchena Island, part of the Galapagos...

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has published its latest monthly Climate Bulletin, focused on key climate trends in August 2025. The bulletin reports that August 2025 was the third-warmest August globally, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 16.60°C. This was 0.49°C above the 1991–2020 average for the month and 1.29°C...

Flowing through meandering stretches in south-eastern Austria, the Lafnitz is a dynamic lowland river where erosion and sedimentation continually reshape its middle and lower reaches. Its landscapes include sandbanks, islets, oxbow lakes, deep pools, and diverse vegetation such as gallery woods, alder–ash floodplain forests, dead timber, and...