Parts of icy Antarctica are turning green with plant life at an alarming rate as the region is gripped by extreme heat events, according to new research, sparking concerns about the changing landscape on this vast continent.
Scientists used satellite imagery and data to analyze vegetation levels on the Antarctic Peninsula, a long mountain chain that points north to the tip of South America, and which has been warming much faster than the global average.
They found plant life — mostly mosses — had increased in this harsh environment more than 10-fold over the past four decades, according to the study by scientists at the universities of Exeter and Hertfordshire in England, and the British Antarctic Survey, published Friday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Vegetation covered less than 0.4 square miles of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1986 but had reached almost 5 square miles by 2021, the study found. The rate at which the region has been greening over nearly four decades has also been speeding up, accelerating by more than 30% between 2016 and 2021.
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📸 Tom Roland; Matt Amesbury; Dan Charman
Kimberly-Clark has switched to green hydrogen boilers across its UK facilities, cutting carbon emissions by more than 28,000 tonnes annually. Large manufacturers play an indirect yet significant role in shaping sustainable construction by helping scale cleaner energy systems and supporting low carbon construction materials. This type of investment highlights how reducing embodied carbon in materials and industrial processes contributes to lower upstream emissions in the built environment.
In Australia, Source Certain has launched material tracing solutions that verify the origins of energy transition minerals. This is essential for reducing the carbon footprint of construction, since the embodied carbon in materials for green infrastructure and energy-efficient buildings often originates from complex global supply chains. Enhanced transparency strengthens whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle assessment, providing more reliable data for sustainable building practices worldwide.
London has seen the introduction of Nord Pavilion, an architectural extension designed to maximise natural daylight with flat roof structures. By focusing on eco-design for buildings and low carbon design strategies, such projects lower dependency on artificial light and heating, reinforcing sustainable building design at both residential and urban scales. The project reflects sustainable architecture principles linked to net zero whole life carbon and sustainable material specification.
Broader policy changes such as Hawaii’s new green fee demonstrate how environmental sustainability in construction connects with ecosystem preservation. Funding aimed at protecting climate resilience directly influences the building lifecycle performance of coastal and urban infrastructure. Integrating life cycle thinking in construction ensures that net zero carbon buildings remain viable in regions exposed to rising seas and severe weather impacts.
The UK’s move to recycle all toothpaste tubes also signals progress in circular economy in construction. Innovations in material processing and circular construction strategies strengthen end-of-life reuse in construction and support eco-friendly construction approaches. These advances feed into sustainable building products, resource efficiency in construction, and the wider circular economy, which are central to reducing waste and decarbonising the built environment.
Together these developments show that sustainable construction depends on more than visible green building materials. The shift toward whole life carbon measurement, lifecycle assessment, and life cycle cost evaluation ensures sustainable design decisions are backed by transparent data. Progress on embodied carbon and net zero carbon requires linking building performance to global supply chains, policy support, and circular economy frameworks that reinforce the environmental sustainability of future cities.
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