High summer temperatures caused record melting of the Norwegian archipelago’s...

NASA Climate Change 2 years ago

High summer temperatures caused record melting of the Norwegian archipelago’s glaciers. 🧊 Home to some of Earth’s northernmost glaciers, Svalbard is one of the fastest-warming places on the planet. In late July and early August 2024, temperatures hovered around 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) above average for this part of the Arctic Circle. Its ice caps broke their all-time record for daily surface melt on July 23. #Landsat captured these images of Nordaustlandet—the second largest island in the archipelago—on August 9 as water and sediment drained off the coast. Sediment is likely causing the swirls of color in the water surrounding the island. Image Descriptions: 1: Satellite image of Nordaustlandet, the second largest island in the Svalbard archipelago. The island is mostly covered in a blanket of white ice. Melting has exposed a brown landscape along the coast. Swirls of brown and teal fade from the coast into the dark blue ocean. 2: Close-up of a satellite image of Nordaustlandet, the second largest island in the Svalbard archipelago. The island is mostly covered in a blanket of white ice. Melting has exposed a brown landscape along the coast. Sediment creates swirls of brown and teal that fade into the dark blue Arctic Ocean. #Svalbard #Norway #Glaciers #EarthFromSpace #Earth #Ice

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 2 hours ago



Westminster’s refreshed National Planning Policy Framework signals a default yes to homes near rail hubs, accelerating sustainable urban development while curbing transport emissions. To secure durable value, schemes should embed whole life carbon assessment from concept stage, quantify embodied carbon, and optimise life cycle cost alongside placemaking and green infrastructure. Brownfield intensification that couples eco-design for buildings with resource efficiency in construction can cut the carbon footprint of construction and support net zero whole life carbon targets, aligning with BREEAM v7.

Energy remains the strategic risk. Developers are moving ahead with electrification regardless of policy noise, designing grid-ready sites, specifying heat pumps, and tightening controls to deliver energy-efficient buildings and net zero carbon buildings. The BCIA’s BEMS Delivery Framework gives clients a common standard for interoperable controls, improving building lifecycle performance and closing the performance gap. With over two-thirds of households already cutting energy use, demand is rising for sustainable building design that delivers verifiable lifecycle assessment outcomes and measurable carbon footprint reduction across operation and maintenance.

Rising summer temperatures are making resilience a core brief. Specifications now need passive shading, thermal mass, and material choices that balance embodied carbon in materials with durability and low-impact construction. Sustainable material specification should prioritise low embodied carbon materials and renewable building materials supported by environmental product declarations (EPDs), while enabling end-of-life reuse in construction through circular construction strategies. Adopting low carbon construction materials, green building materials and green building products within a circular economy in construction advances sustainable building practices, sustainable design and green construction. The result is low carbon design that de-risks delivery, supports carbon neutral construction, and accelerates decarbonising the built environment.

Show More

camera_altFeatured Instagram Posts:

Get your opinion heard:

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 get in touch.

Let's chat!
Avatar

WLC Assistant

Ask me about sustainability

Hi! I'm your Whole Life Carbon assistant. I can help you learn about sustainability, carbon assessment, and navigate our resources. How can I help you today?