During recent storms, satellites recorded ocean waves averaging nearly 20 metres high – the largest ever measured from space. Moreover, satellite data now reveal that ocean swells act as storm ‘messengers’: even though a storm may never make landfall, its swell can travel vast distances and bring destructive energy to distant coastlines.

Southern Europe is once again in the grip of extreme summer heat. Soaring temperatures and bone-dry land have fuelled widespread wildfires, with the Iberian Peninsula among the regions hardest hit. Flames continue to sweep across parched landscapes, as these images show.

Satellite observations reveal that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is once again hovering near record lows for this time of year – underscoring a troubling and persistent trend. This issue is a key topic at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium in Vienna, where scientists are emphasising the critical role that ESA’s Climate Change Initiative Sea Ice Project and CryoSat mission have had in helping to underpin these findings.Looking ahead, the ability to monitor polar sea ice is in safe hands, as the development of the new CRISTAL mission is progressing well and the first satellite will be ready for launch in the second half of 2027.

Satellite observations show that sea-surface temperatures over the past four decades have been getting warmer at an accelerated pace.

This week’s Earth from Space is an image of Super Typhoon Champi from Copernicus Sentinel-3, captured on 21 October 2026, and taken off the coasts of Taiwan and the Philippines.

Sentinel-3 for monitoring changes on Earth

Sentinel-3 eyes on Earth

Sentinel-3C ontop of the Vespa adapter which encases FLEX