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Updated NOAA tool delivers daily sargassum risk reports

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just updated its Sargassum Inundation Risk (SIR) tool to offer daily reports and more detailed tracking of sargassum influxes in the Caribbean, tropical Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico.   Sargassum is a floating brown marine macroalga that, upon reaching the coast, begins to rot, releasing a foul smell that poses risks to humans and the environment. The risk of coastal sargassum arrivals on May 4, 2026, in the Gulf of Mexico. (NOAA) With the latest updates, NOAA is now able to provide daily reports with a resolution of half a mile (1 kilometer). Previously, these reports were issued on a weekly basis with a resolution of three miles (five kilometers).  Designed as a risk assessment system, the SIR is intended to optimize sargassum monitoring for public use with special focus on coastal authorities, hotels, tour operators and communities so that they can anticipate and organize cleanup efforts. “Our updated risk tool is ...
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Pemex bleeds US $2.6B in Q1 despite government bailout and rising oil prices

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Pemex, Mexico’s heavily indebted state oil company, posted a loss of 45.99 billion pesos (US $2.6 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, the firm’s worst start to any year since 2020. The loss, reported by Pemex to the Mexican Stock Exchange last week, is 6.2% higher than the 43.3-billion-peso loss recorded in the first quarter of 2025. Pemex debt hits lowest level in over a decade at $84.5 billion Reuters reported that Pemex “failed to profit ​from a global oil price surge triggered by international ‌conflict,” namely the war in the Middle East. Mexican newspaper El Financiero reported that Pemex’s first quarter loss was the result of lower sales, higher depreciation of fixed assets, lower “other” income, higher costs related to derivative financial instruments and a foreign exchange loss. The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, a Mexico City-based think tank, highlighted that Pemex recorded its largest first-quarter loss despite rece...
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Mexico City is sinking faster than ever, new NASA data reveals

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Long recognized as one of the fastest-sinking sites in the world, today’s Mexico City is sinking by nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) a year, and has sunk by nearly 40 feet over the past century. This information comes from newly available satellite data released by NASA last week that was derived from the U.S.-India satellite project known as NISAR. NISAR uses advanced radar imaging — effectively a microscope in space — to measure changes in Earth’s land, ice, sea level rise and groundwater. This satellite image from NASA shows how its NISAR technology can identify areas of the Valley of Mexico with significant subsidence, such as those shown in blue here that sank by more than one centimeter per month between Oct. 25, 2025, and Jan. 17, 2026. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/David Bekaert) It has long been observed that Mexico City has been sinking (a 1995 study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found the city was sinking roughly two inches per year by t...
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Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde sworn in as interim governor of Sinaloa

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The northern state of Sinaloa has a new governor after Rubén Rocha Moya’s request for temporary leave was approved by state Congress, following the unsealing of a U.S. federal indictment charging him with drug trafficking and ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde was sworn in as interim governor of Sinaloa on Saturday. Bonilla, a 33-year-old former state lawmaker, was serving as general secretary of the Sinaloa government before her appointment as interim governor. The unicameral Sinaloa Congress — dominated by the Morena party and its allies — approved her appointment after authorizing Rocha’s request  for “temporary leave for more than 30 days.” Bonilla is the first woman to serve as governor of Sinaloa. Rocha, who represented Morena as governor, announced his intention to step down on Friday night, two days after the unsealing of a U.S. indictment that accuses him and nine other current and former Sinaloa-based officials of drug traffickin...
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5.6-magnitude earthquake shakes Oaxaca

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A 5.6-magnitude earthquake originating along Oaxaca’s Costa Chica jolted Mexico on Monday.  The epicenter was located near the Pacific Coast at a depth of 10 kilometers, about 20 kilometers west of Pinotepa Nacional. SISMO Magnitud 5.6 Loc 24 km al OESTE de PINOTEPA NACIONAL, OAX 04/05/26 09:19:25 Lat 16.32 Lon -98.27 Pf 9 km pic.twitter.com/1s0QNtQsrU — Sismologico Nacional (@SismologicoMX) May 4, 2026 Oaxaca officials said no damage was reported despite the magnitude of the temblor, confirming that a review to analyze possible impacts on infrastructure and basic services had been carried out in all 570 municipalities of the state. The state Civil Protection Coordination agency indicated it would maintain active monitoring with emergency services and municipal authorities. The tremor triggered Mexico City’s seismic alert system at 9:19 a.m., and was said to be noticeable in some areas of the capital, though many residents described it as imperceptible. Mexico City officials in...
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Mexico’s week in review: A spy scandal and a governor’s indictment put Mexican sovereignty at center stage

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The week began where last week left off — with the fallout from the discovery of an unauthorized CIA surveillance operation in Chihuahua. On Monday, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry delivered a formal  protest note to U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson  over the operation, demanding an explanation and asserting that any intelligence activity on Mexican soil requires prior government authorization. By Tuesday, Sheinbaum told reporters that Washington had verbally  agreed to respect Mexican law  going forward — though she acknowledged no written commitment had been received and that an investigation into the extent of the operation remains open. That fragile equilibrium was immediately complicated by a new bilateral flashpoint. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other state officials  with drug trafficking and alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. It was the most direct U.S. action against a sitting Mexican ...
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Chapala official asks foreign residents to follow the rules — and learn some Spanish

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A municipal official at Lake Chapala has published an open letter to the region’s sizable foreign community, addressing complaints about traffic violations, pet etiquette and language barriers — a move observers say is unusual for local government and suggests informal remedies have not been enough. Ricardo Razo Navarro, who serves as liaison between the Municipal Government of Chapala and the foreign community, published the appeal covering residents of Chapala, Ajijic and San Antonio Tlayacapan. The letter, framed in welcoming language, opens by acknowledging the foreign population’s economic contributions and cultural presence before cataloguing a set of specific behavioral concerns. “The office under my charge has received different reports that some members of the foreign community have incurred in improper behaviors that affect the rest of the inhabitants,” Navarro wrote. Among the concerns cited: running red lights, traveling the wrong way on one-way...
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