2023 was the hottest year in @NASA’s record, continuing a human-caused, long term warming trend.
2023 was a record-breaking year in many ways. We also experienced the hottest summer and fall on record, and Sept. 2023’s global temperature anomaly – deviation from the 1951-1980 baseline – was the largest on record. Each year in the last decade was in the top 10 warmest years.
The record-breaking heat was due to high greenhouse gas emissions (like carbon dioxide), the transition to El Niño conditions, and other factors that scientists are still researching. Generally, La Niña brings cooler temperatures and El Niño brings warmer temperatures. High greenhouse gas emissions from human activities and the transition out of three La Niña years were largely responsible for 2023 setting a new record.
Last year, NASA and our partners launched the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center to share climate data for these heat-trapping gases.
Our record, called GISTEMP, is calculated from millions of measurements from thousands of weather stations on land, ships and ocean buoys, and Antarctic research stations. It uses data starting in 1880, when coverage makes it possible to reliably estimate global temperature.
Despite 2023 being the globally hottest year, individual locations may not have experienced a record warm year. However, the effects of our changing climate are felt globally, with record droughts, shifting fire seasons, and sudden, intense precipitation events.
At NASA, our unique vantage point from space is crucial to monitoring the causes and impacts of climate change – both those we’re experiencing now, and what we can expect to see in the future. We’re designing, building, and launching missions to study Earth in new ways and provide data for models that project how Earth systems will respond to rising carbon.
By working with our partners at @NOAA and other federal agencies, and making our data available to local decision-makers and people on the ground, NASA is helping the world prepare for life on a warming planet.
#Earth #NASA #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Science
Sustainable construction is moving from ambition to enforceable systems change, with electrified buildings, resilience and whole life carbon now shaping development strategy. Calls for a UK 2035 electrification target covering heat pumps, solar, batteries and clean technologies put pressure on developers to align sustainable building design with low-carbon power, flexible demand and on-site generation. Fabric-first design remains vital, but net zero carbon buildings will increasingly depend on operational performance, smart controls and credible whole life carbon assessment.
Global energy markets are accelerating the shift. Forecasts of a 4,800GW rise in renewable capacity by 2035, supported by China’s clean-tech export strength, are changing the economics of building services. Heat pumps, battery storage and intelligent controls are becoming core infrastructure for energy-efficient buildings, not optional upgrades. Future-ready assets will need low carbon design capable of using variable clean electricity while protecting occupiers from volatile fossil fuel costs and reducing the carbon footprint of construction over time.
Regulation is tightening around measurable performance. The Future Homes Standard is forcing design teams to reassess roofs, floors, comfort, ventilation and commissioning, while building-controls specialists are urging ministers to turn efficiency policy into practical support for businesses. BREEAM, BREEAM v7 and lifecycle assessment frameworks are becoming more important for demonstrating environmental sustainability in construction, linking embodied carbon, operational energy, life cycle cost and building lifecycle performance in a single evidence base.
The next phase of green construction will demand stronger action on embodied carbon in materials, low carbon construction materials and sustainable material specification. Developers, architects and contractors face growing pressure to use environmental product declarations (EPDs), low embodied carbon materials, renewable building materials and green building products to prove carbon footprint reduction. Circular economy in construction is also moving up the agenda, with circular construction strategies, resource efficiency in construction and end-of-life reuse in construction becoming central to net zero whole life carbon delivery.
Climate adaptation is now a capital planning issue. New flood and coastal-defence schemes in England and Wales show that green infrastructure, sustainable urban development and low-impact construction must protect assets from climate risks already locked in. Sustainable architecture and eco-design for buildings can no longer treat resilience separately from decarbonising the built environment. The industry must deliver eco-friendly construction, carbon neutral construction and sustainable building practices that reduce the environmental impact of construction while preparing communities for more extreme weather.
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