2023 was the hottest year in @NASA’s record, continuing a human-caused, long...

NASA Climate Change 3 years ago

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

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 1 hour ago



Momentum in sustainable construction is now driven by tangible progress in materials and methods rather than declarations. The focus on reducing embodied carbon in materials and undertaking robust whole life carbon assessment is reshaping how developers, architects and engineers define sustainable building design. Initiatives such as the Reducing Plastics in Construction Summit reinforce the value of renewable building materials, eco-design for buildings and circular economy in construction frameworks to eliminate petroleum-based polymers and improve resource efficiency in construction.

Biobased composites, recyclable resins and modular approaches are being evaluated through lifecycle assessment tools that can accurately measure the carbon footprint of construction and inform sustainable material specification throughout each project stage. Digitisation is rapidly becoming integral to low carbon design and energy-efficient buildings. Advanced platforms now enable unified modelling of cost, performance and carbon, aligning lifecycle cost optimisation with environmental sustainability in construction.

TM2 Bygg’s software-led method illustrates how low carbon building processes built on data-driven insights help achieve net zero carbon buildings and deliver improved building lifecycle performance. At the policy level, regulators are reinforcing requirements for measurable reductions in embodied carbon and clear evidence of net zero whole life carbon outcomes. These shifts point toward an industry-wide transformation grounded in whole life carbon transparency and the adoption of BREEAM v7 and other sustainable building practices to standardise reporting.

The result is a market that values circular construction strategies, end-of-life reuse in construction and environmental product declarations (EPDs) as verification of a project’s environmental impact of construction. New renewable energy infrastructure, including next‑generation geothermal systems, could redefine the carbon footprint reduction potential of green building materials and low carbon construction materials. As baseload renewables expand, achieving carbon neutral construction and sustainable urban development becomes increasingly viable. The sector is moving beyond pilot projects toward a mature phase of green construction, integrating life cycle thinking in construction and decarbonising the built environment as core business practice.

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