In 2016, ancient cave paintings of giant, horned beasts shed new light on the mysterious origins of the European bison.
These depictions showed a marked change in bison appearance between about 22,000 and 17,000 years ago – horns, humps and forequarters all diminished in size. This added weight to the genetic evidence suggesting that the European bison arose from cross-breeding of the now-extinct steppe bison with aurochs (an ancestor of modern cattle) around this time.
The resulting European bison hybrid – also called the wisent – is the continent's largest living land animal.
They once roamed across much of Europe and western Asia; however, consistent hunting and habitat loss over the last few centuries collapsed the population. The last wild individual was shot in the Caucasus in 1927, leaving just 54 alive in zoos and private parks.
Since then, breeding programs and reintroductions across Europe have helped the bison bounce back. The IUCN classified the species as endangered in 1996 but, in response to the impressive population recovery, updated their status to near threatened in 2020. Today, there are around 7,000 free-roaming individuals.
Read more at the link in our bio.
📸: Ingolf König-Jablonski/picture alliance/Getty Images; Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images; Dan Kitwood/Getty Images; Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters; Ingolf K'nig-Jablonski/picture-alliance/dpa/AP; Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images; Kacper Pempel/Reuters
The sustainable construction sector has demonstrated measured progress this week, with multiple projects advancing low carbon design principles and reinforcing a global shift toward environmental sustainability in construction. The UK finalist for the Earthshot Prize has attracted international attention with its “upcycled skyscraper” concept. The project exemplifies how sustainable building design can decarbonise cities by reusing existing structures rather than rebuilding, cutting embodied carbon in materials and reducing the overall carbon footprint of construction. It shows that net zero whole life carbon targets are achievable when adaptive reuse is supported by rigorous whole life carbon assessment. This approach represents a pivot away from demolition-led development and towards truly circular construction strategies.
G F Tomlinson’s completion of the Barnsley College University Centre modernisation delivers a tangible demonstration of sustainable building practices rooted in lifecycle assessment. The retrofit has safeguarded the building’s Art Deco heritage while integrating a low carbon building methodology that promotes energy-efficient buildings and greener infrastructure. By retaining the original structural frame, the project has cut the embodied carbon of construction, proving that low carbon construction materials and renewable building materials have comparable performance to conventional options when guided by life cycle thinking in construction. The work also highlights the significance of BREEAM and emerging standards such as BREEAM v7 in defining measurable sustainability benchmarks.
In Cambridgeshire, work is commencing on the £500 million Medworth Energy from Waste facility, a major investment designed to support a functioning circular economy in construction and energy supply. Through combined heat and power systems, the development will assist future net zero carbon buildings by providing renewable energy outputs while applying whole life carbon methodologies to reduce lifecycle emissions. Although energy-from-waste has detractors, its integration with eco-design for buildings reinforces its potential as part of wider carbon neutral construction strategies that prioritize resource efficiency in construction and whole life cost management.
At the global level, the announcement of the Earthshot Prize finalists underscores that sustainable design and green construction principles now define the benchmark for engineering relevance. With emphasis on embodied carbon reduction and net zero carbon pursuits, these initiatives promote sustainable urban development grounded in measurable environmental product declarations (EPDs) and transparent assessment of the environmental impact of construction. The shift signifies a maturing understanding that building lifecycle performance is fundamental to both commercial resilience and global climate commitments.
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.