On April 16, 2024, the United Arab Emirates experienced a historic weather event, receiving a year’s worth of rainfall in just 12 hours, leading to severe flooding across the nation, including disruptions at Dubai’s major international airport. Following the floods, health concerns have risen due to water contamination that has reportedly sickened residents with symptoms linked to contaminated water.
Indonesia’s Ruang volcano in North Sulawesi experienced several violent eruptions on April 16 and 17, 2024, forcing authorities to raise the Alert Level to 4 of 4 and warn nearby residents there is a potential of a tsunami if parts of the volcano collapse into the sea, similarly to what happened in 1871. The last eruptive episode at this volcano was in September 2002 (VEI 4).
Zambia is in the throes of an unprecedented drought, prompted by El Niño, resulting in the driest February recorded since 1981. This natural disaster has compelled the President to declare a state of emergency, with 84 districts suffering and over 1 million ha (2.47 million acres) of crops devastated, causing widespread shortages in essential resources including food and water.
Devastating wildfires have swept through Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces in southern China since March 15, 2024, claiming four lives in Yunnan and leading to significant evacuations and damage. Reports from March 18 indicate that nearly 4 900 individuals have been evacuated in Sichuan’s Yajiang County alone, with the fires ravaging over 10 000 ha (24 710 acres) of land.
Spain’s Catalonia region is experiencing its worst drought on record, with the Sau Reservoir, a crucial water source, severely depleted as seen in March 2024 satellite images. The past three years have marked the driest period since 1914, prompting the Catalan government to declare a drought emergency on February 1, 2024, and impose water consumption restrictions on its residents and businesses.
Sentinel-2 satellite image acquired on March 11, 2024, shows Tinakula Volcano in the Solomon Islands undergoing a new effusive eruption, with lava flowing about 1 km down its western slope into the ocean. This eruption continues the activity that began in December 2018.
The effusive eruption that started two days ago at Fernandina volcano in Ecuador continues on March 5, 2024, with several lava flows on the SSE slope of the volcano.
Increased eruptive activity continues at Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano on March 1, 2024. The activity over the past 24 hours consisted of 148 exhalations and 1 034 minutes of tremor.
Satellite images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission have revealed the scale of an oil spill off Trinidad and Tobago’s coast, following The Gulfstream shipwreck. The spill has extended over 160 km (100 miles) westwards, threatening neighboring marine areas.
Data released by the Icelandic Met Office (IMO) shows that about 15 million cubic meters (530 million cubic feet) of lava flowed in the first seven hours of the eruption near Grindavik on February 8, 2024. The eruption has since decreased significantly but is still not over.
