عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Volcano Erupts on Spain's Canary Islands

Lava flows from an eruption of a volcano at the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Jonathan Rodriguez)
Lava flows from an eruption of a volcano at the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Jonathan Rodriguez)
TT
TT

Volcano Erupts on Spain's Canary Islands

Lava flows from an eruption of a volcano at the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Jonathan Rodriguez)
Lava flows from an eruption of a volcano at the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Jonathan Rodriguez)

The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on Spain's Canary Islands Sunday, spewing out lava, ash and a huge column of smoke after days of increased seismic activity and forcing the evacuation of around 5,000 local people, authorities said.

Cumbre Vieja, which last erupted 50 years ago, straddles a ridge in the south of La Palma island, home to around 80,000 people, said AFP.

"The eruption started in the Cabeza de Vaca zone, in El Paso," at around 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) the local government said on its Twitter account.

The evacuation was obligatory in a dozen areas placed on a maximum alert and temporary shelters were opened.

"People are asked to be extremely careful and to stay away from the eruption zone to avoid needless risk," a local government statement added.

The head of the Canaries region, Angel Victor Torres, said the zone was forested and "sparsely populated". No casualties had so far been reported, he added.

The lava reached several homes and made a number of roads impassable.

According to the local government's projections, lava flows from the volcano, located in the center of the island, were likely to move southwest towards inhabited and wooded areas, before reaching the coast.

- PM flies in -
The lava flows were moving at about 700 meters (yards) an hour, and had a temperature of nearly 1,000 Centigrade, according to the Canaries Islands Institute of Volcanology.

"Everything leads us to believe that there won't be any new points of eruption," said Torres.

State television ran live coverage of the eruption during the late afternoon.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived at the scene late Sunday.

"Given the situation (on) La Palma island, the head of government has delayed his scheduled departure today for New York," to attend the UN General Assembly, a statement said earlier.

"All services are prepared to act in a coordinated fashion," Sanchez wrote on Twitter.

As of 1830 GMT, flights to and from the island had not been disrupted, airport operator Aena said.

The interior ministry said 200 members of the security services had been mobilized with a helicopter as back up.

- Thousands of tremors -
Experts had been keeping a close watch on the volcano after observing a recent upsurge in seismic activity and magma displacements.

An earthquake swarm under La Cumbre Vieja began a week ago and since then there had been thousands of tremors, the strongest with a magnitude of nearly four, the Involcan volcanology institute said.

An earthquake swarm is a sequence of seismic events occurring in one place within a relatively short period of time.

On Tuesday, the authorities raised the alert level from green to yellow, in certain areas around the volcano. The second of four alert levels, the change meant civil protection officials had to inform the public "to take precautions ahead of a possible volcanic eruption", under an emergency plan.

Involcan had reported a "significant ground deformation" as a result of "a small volume" of new magma flowing into the reservoir underneath the volcano, which amounted to 11 million cubic meters.

"Undoubtedly the current seismic swarm represents a significant change in the activity of the Cumbre Vieja volcano and is related to a process of magmatic intrusion beneath the island of La Palma," it said.

The Canaries, an archipelago of seven islands off northwestern Africa, last recorded a volcanic eruption in 2011, undersea off El Hierro island.

Cumbre Vieja erupted twice in the 20th century -- in 1971 and in 1949.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Spacecraft Bound for Mercury Begins ‘Tricky’ Arrival

This composite image provided by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington on Oct. 22, 2013, shows Mercury as it appeared to the Messenger spacecraft following a flyby of the planet. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington via AP)
This composite image provided by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington on Oct. 22, 2013, shows Mercury as it appeared to the Messenger spacecraft following a flyby of the planet. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington via AP)
TT
TT

Spacecraft Bound for Mercury Begins ‘Tricky’ Arrival

This composite image provided by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington on Oct. 22, 2013, shows Mercury as it appeared to the Messenger spacecraft following a flyby of the planet. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington via AP)
This composite image provided by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington on Oct. 22, 2013, shows Mercury as it appeared to the Messenger spacecraft following a flyby of the planet. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington via AP)

After an eight-year journey, a spacecraft carrying European and Japanese probes began the months-long, high-risk approach to Mercury on Thursday to study the Sun-scorched planet.

The BepiColombo mission set off from Earth in 2018 on a winding path to study the smallest and least understood planet in our Solar System with the aim of releasing the two probes into its orbit.

On Thursday it began its arrival phase, described by the European Space Agency (ESA) as its "most operationally challenging planetary arrival sequences ever attempted".

Mercury's relatively tiny mass -- it is only slightly bigger than the Moon -- means its gravitational pull is extremely weak compared to the Sun, making it complex for spacecraft to approach the planet without ending up incinerated or lost in space.

"It's a very ambitious mission," Santa Martinez, the mission manager at ESA, told a press conference ahead of its arrival.

The spacecraft had to travel more than 10 billion kilometers (miles), executing a series of nine flybys, to speed up, slow down and perfect its trajectory.

The two probes, which are attached to each other, finally separated on Thursday from the transfer module that has propelled them -- a crucial first step in the final approach.

It was the equivalent of "launching a new spacecraft. Only this spacecraft happens to be around a different planet," explained Ignacio Tanco, ESA's head of inner solar system mission operations, before the separation began.

- All went to plan -

On Thursday, Mercury was some 63 million km from the Sun and 200 million km from Earth.

"At these distances... any real-time operation becomes impossible," Tanco said, explaining there was about a 30-minute delay between checks being performed and commands being executed from the ground to the craft.

It means the spacecraft had to check and execute the separation autonomously -- a "tricky business," Tanco said.

But all went to plan.

The spacecraft autonomously cut the four mechanical struts connecting the orbiters to the module.

Spring mechanisms then gently pushed them away.

The separation took place at a speed of 40 centimeters (16 inches) per second, leaving the two entities relatively close given the vastness of space.

Due to the distance between the probes and Earth, the signal confirming the operation's success reached the control center in Darmstadt, Germany, nearly two hours later -- at 1353 GMT -- sparking rounds of applause and cheers.

"This is the best case scenario, that the telemetry comes exactly at the moment we expect it," said Elsa Montagnon, in charge of module operations at ESA.

"The spacecraft has completed its reconfiguration as expected," she said happily.

The probes are due to come into Mercury's orbit on November 21.

The next tricky phase will come on December 9 and 10, when the two probes separate into their respective orbits.

From April, the ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) will begin studying the planet closest to the Sun with unprecedented precision, passing just 480 km from its surface.

The Japanese Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) will focus on its space environment and magnetic field, following an elliptical orbit that will carry it as far as 11,000 km away.

- New chapter -

Mercury is the least studied of the four rocky, innermost planets in our solar system, which include Venus, Earth and Mars.

NASA's Mariner 10 was the first probe to capture a close picture of its lunar-looking surface in 1974.

The MESSENGER probe then orbited the planet in 2011.

But many mysteries remain about its magnetic field, iron core and surface marked by hollows.

With its 16 instruments and 1.7-billion-euro ($2.0-billion) budget, BepiColombo "is going to bring to humanity and to the scientific community unprecedented views of Mercury... and it's going to open a new chapter in our understanding of the solar system", Martinez said.

Varieties

NSG at LEAP 2026 Shapes the Future of Saudi Arabia’s Space Sector

The transformation of Saudi Arabia’s space sector reflects a national vision that positions space as a natural extension of the Kingdom’s technological capabilities. (SPA)
The transformation of Saudi Arabia’s space sector reflects a national vision that positions space as a natural extension of the Kingdom’s technological capabilities. (SPA)
TT
TT

NSG at LEAP 2026 Shapes the Future of Saudi Arabia’s Space Sector

The transformation of Saudi Arabia’s space sector reflects a national vision that positions space as a natural extension of the Kingdom’s technological capabilities. (SPA)
The transformation of Saudi Arabia’s space sector reflects a national vision that positions space as a natural extension of the Kingdom’s technological capabilities. (SPA)

The transformation of Saudi Arabia’s space sector reflects a national vision that positions space as a natural extension of the Kingdom’s technological capabilities and a strategic domain for strengthening national sovereignty and advancing a knowledge-based economy, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

At LEAP 2026, Neo Space Group (NSG) stood out as a key national entity driving this transformation through an integrated approach that encompasses developing and operating space capabilities, building infrastructure, localizing knowledge and expertise, and developing Saudi talent.

NSG contributes to strengthening the Kingdom’s independence in the space sector by developing and operating space capabilities locally, including, most notably, the Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1 (SGS-1), which represents a pivotal step toward establishing space communications systems managed from within the Kingdom.

The company is also developing advanced operational systems, including the infrastructure and supporting systems required to manage satellites and their services, thereby enhancing the Kingdom’s ability to manage its space sector efficiently and with full sovereignty.

Varieties

Global Warming Will Exceed Limit, UN Says as it Maps Path to Get Back Below Danger Zone

This aerial picture shows a villager walking between dried-up rice fields with cracked soil caused by a prolonged dry season at Wening Galih village in Bogor, West Java on August 28, 2026. (AFP)
This aerial picture shows a villager walking between dried-up rice fields with cracked soil caused by a prolonged dry season at Wening Galih village in Bogor, West Java on August 28, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Global Warming Will Exceed Limit, UN Says as it Maps Path to Get Back Below Danger Zone

This aerial picture shows a villager walking between dried-up rice fields with cracked soil caused by a prolonged dry season at Wening Galih village in Bogor, West Java on August 28, 2026. (AFP)
This aerial picture shows a villager walking between dried-up rice fields with cracked soil caused by a prolonged dry season at Wening Galih village in Bogor, West Java on August 28, 2026. (AFP)

In a strategic retreat in the fight against climate change, the United Nations has acknowledged that Earth has lost its chance to prevent some of the worst of global warming's harms. So now the world must figure out how to get temperatures below the danger zone and back to safety, officials say.

Earth is soon going to exceed the safe temperature threshold agreed upon by the world in the 2015 Paris climate accord because of warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas, according to a bleak first-of-its-kind report issued by the United Nations Environment Program Wednesday.

Instead of giving up, scientists and UN officials recommend trying to limit excessive warming and then bring the temperature back down to the agreed-upon threshold. But it still will mean decades of increased weather-related disasters, rising seas, extinctions and melting ice and glaciers.

“Humanity is speeding past the limit to avoid climate catastrophe,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said.

After a period of over-the-limit warming, the new strategy envisions getting back below the limit by ending fossil fuel use and developing some kind of way to suck industries' carbon dioxide out of the air.

“It's a reality check. We have to live with this warmer world,” said report co-author Richard Betts, a climate scientist at the University of Exeter. “But there's still a lot we can do to limit warming.”

A dog sits in the middle of a haze-shrouded road caused by forest and land fires in Palangkaraya city, Central Kalimantan, on August 28, 2026. (AFP)

Passing the longtime warming threshold

After the Paris climate accord, the United Nations ordered its climate science arm to study different warming limits. A goal of 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above mid-19th century temperatures became generally accepted after the scientists found dramatic impacts that affect people and the planet at 2 degrees Celsius (3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) but not at 1.5 degrees.

The world is now at 1.4 C (2.5 F) above pre-industrial levels, some scientists have calculated. The measure is based on a 20-year average, rather than a single year's temperatures.

Despite experts saying there's no way to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, UN officials long maintained the 1.5 window was still open. Wednesday's report finally admitted that the world will cross the 1.5 threshold “in the next few years.”

The report said the most optimistic scenario has warming peaking at 1.8 C (3.2 F) around mid-century if countries pursue ambitious climate goals, but that governments' current policies should push temperatures to 2.6 C (4.7 F) above pre-industrial levels by 2100.

So instead of preventing warming of 1.5 degrees, now the UN said it wants policymakers to “prepare for and navigate a future” in which the globe crosses that limit and then corrects course and cools temperatures. The report envisions that global temperatures will pass 1.5 “within the next few years,” follow a hump-shaped path of more warming, peak, then gradually cool to below the 1.5 mark, ideally by the end of the century. The report and experts call it “overshoot.”

“Let’s be very clear, 1.5 target is still the goal. But now we need to approach it differently from above,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.

The 1.5 limit is not “some magical climate cliff” where it’s just game over, said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver, who wasn’t part of the study. “Every tenth of a degree we avoid still means less damage.”

Limiting how high temperatures go past threshold is key

It's most important to first limit the new peak temperature and then reduce the amount of time above 1.5 degrees, Andersen said.

But the world likely will be in that overshoot period for “many, many decades,” Betts said.

Every five years of delay in reducing emissions adds at least a tenth of a degree to peak warming, said report co-author Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist at Imperial College London.

“If we act now we can limit overshoot,” the report said. “Not a safe world, but safer than remaining above” 1.5 degrees for the long term.

“This is among the bleakest UN climate reports I have read. It carries the unmistakable tone of desperation, frustration and urgency — but not resignation,” Weaver said.

Climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, said that “although UNEP does a good job of describing the hole we've dug ourselves into, it does a poor job of showing us that there's a way out.”

A photograph taken on August 24, 2026 shows a cornfield with dry ears, in Figarol, southwestern France. Due to the repeated heatwaves that have hit the south-west, Sébastien Maylin will be able to “barely cover the cost” of his fertilizer and seeds. (AFP)

Adapting to a deadlier, hungrier, thirstier world

Governments need to increase efforts to adapt to worsening warming, which hits the poor hardest, “because some impacts simply cannot be avoided,” Andersen said.

The report calls this phase “coping and containment.”

During this overshoot period, more people will die or get sick because of the worsening climate change and its extreme weather, the report said. Food production will drop, people will go hungry, water shortages will worsen, economies will be hurt and species like coral will go extinct, the report said.

Although the triggers behind the recent deadly Nepal flooding that came as part of a Himalayan glacier dislodging are complex, Betts said “unfortunately we do expect to see more of such things and this is exactly why we need to limit peak warming.”

The report warns of “tipping points” with irreversible and cascading effects, including the loss of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, the loss of the Amazon rain forest and the shutdown of the Atlantic Ocean circulation system that keeps much of Europe warm.

“Some locations might become more or less uninsurable or even uninhabitable,” the report said.

The last phase in overshoot is cooling the planet by removing carbon dioxide from the air and storing it somewhere. The report said the traditional approach of this is planting more trees, but it says planting trees could, at most, shave a tenth of a degree off global temperatures. So the authors said more novel carbon removal approaches will be needed.

Other scientists called that unreliable and expensive.

“We were unable to stop the runaway train of global emissions to avoid 1.5 C of warming,” said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who wasn't part of the report. “Now overshoot scenarios require us to stop the train quickly and to back it up. Is it our best hope? Absolutely. Is it likely? Absolutely not.”