Climate change is stressing out coral 🪸
Ocean heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) are both absorbed by the ocean as greenhouse gas levels increase. When CO2 is absorbed, the water becomes more acidic. This makes it harder for corals and some other marine life to grow shells and protect themselves. Plus, marine heat waves are making it too warm for many corals to survive.
NASA is helping by sharing its decades of data with the world. For example, in a recent NASA-partnered study, scientists used satellite data to give people important information about their local reefs so that they could take actions to protect them.
Image Description: The Landsat 8 satellite’s Operational Land Imager captured this image of coral reefs in the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, on August 22, 2020. Against the dark blue ocean, are neon green reefs of different shapes and sizes.
#NASA #NationalOceanMonth #ClimateChange #Earthdata #Coral #CoralReefs
Sustainable construction is accelerating towards measurable decarbonisation as innovation, policy, and supply chain governance begin to align. In London, bio‑based wallboards such as Adaptavate’s Breathaboard—used in Legal & General’s new headquarters—demonstrate how low embodied carbon materials with environmental product declarations (EPDs) are entering large‑scale deployment. This marks a shift from theory to delivery in eco‑friendly construction and underscores the importance of Whole Life Carbon Assessment across sustainable building design.
UK policy now links agriculture and the built environment through a £240 million expansion of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, improving soil health and cutting reliance on high‑carbon fertilisers. These measures support decarbonising the built environment and address the embodied carbon in materials central to net zero Whole Life Carbon targets. As scrutiny of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol exposes inconsistencies in corporate carbon reporting, reliable lifecycle assessment frameworks are becoming critical to verifying low carbon building outcomes and aligning procurement with sustainable material specification.
Growth in renewables, driven by projections of a fourfold expansion in offshore wind capacity by 2035, is reshaping operational emissions and strengthening the foundation for carbon neutral construction and energy‑efficient buildings designed under BREEAM V7 guidelines. This integration of renewable building materials and design principles reflects a more mature phase in the industry’s evolution towards net zero carbon buildings and a functioning Circular Economy in construction.
The sector’s trajectory points towards verified performance, where Whole Life Carbon, Life Cycle Cost, and transparent building lifecycle performance replace aspirations with measurable delivery. The transition from demonstration to large‑scale adaptation defines modern environmental sustainability in construction, confirming that the next decade will test implementation rather than intent across every level of sustainable building practices and green construction worldwide.
Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do
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