This summer, an unprecedented marine heatwave hit the Mediterranean Sea, causing mass die-offs of marine life. Will ecosystems ever recover? The Down to Earth team takes a closer look.

Flames and smoke rise above a forest in the Athens suburb of Varympompi as a fire broke out, cutting a section of the main motorway linking Athens to northern and southern Greece, as the nation reels under a severe heatwave.

Last year, record-breaking fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest sparked international outrage. But the fallout from this year's fire season, which lasts until October, could be even worse. This time around, the Pantanal region, in the west of the country, is being engulfed by flames – the majority of them caused by humans. The vast region is rapidly turning into a desert of dust and smoke, with its rich biodiversity more threatened than ever before. Our correspondents report.

On Tuesday, 5 November 2019, fire broke out at a shopping plaza situated at the popular Balogun Market, Lagos.⁣⁣ Fortunately, personnel of the Lagos State Fire Service was able to prevent the blaze from spreading to other buildings.⁣⁣

Flames ripped through three floors of a Honolulu tower block, killing three people including a mother and her adult son on Friday.