People in urban areas are at higher risk during heat waves, but NASA data shows how parks and green spaces are cooler than the surrounding areas.
This image shows how asphalt and concrete trap heat. The purple and red areas are surfaces that are hotter than 130℉ (54℃). Yellow areas are slightly cooler but still very hot. Some roads and sidewalks got so hot that a few seconds of skin contact could result in second degree burns.
This image shows mid-day conditions in Phoenix, AZ on June 19, 2024. It was measured by a NASA instrument called ECOSTRESS, which is aboard the @iss. Data from Landsat and Sentinel-2 helped improve the resolution so that differences can be seen across a smaller area.
Information like this can help people and communities plan ways to stay safer in the heat.
Image Descriptions:
1: Text reads “Urban Heat Seen From Space” in white at the center of the image with a yellow, red, and purple bar underneath. In the background is a map of urban heat risk in Phoenix.
2: A map of the Phoenix area, where asphalt and concrete surfaces are outlined in yellow, red, or purple lines depending on the surface temperature. Purple represents the hottest. The left side of the image is mostly purple and the right side is mostly red. Several park areas and green spaces have yellow (cooler) surface temperatures. A key at the bottom of the image correlates color to surface temperature and thermal burn risk.
3: The same map of the Phoenix area, but zoomed in over Encanto to highlight areas around green spaces, which are mostly yellow.
#Earth #NASA #Climate #Data #Heat #Science
Momentum in sustainable construction is uneven but accelerating as firms realign toward low carbon design, embodied carbon reduction and whole life carbon assessment. Mapei’s sector outlook places energy-efficient buildings and residential retrofits at the centre of recovery strategies, where life cycle cost and resource efficiency in construction drive both environmental and economic gains. These developments signal that decarbonising the built environment demands more than new projects; it relies on sustainable building design integrating circular economy in construction principles and eco-design for buildings that lower the carbon footprint of construction.
Despite this transition, data from the PMI indicate persistent weakness in traditional markets, intensifying the pressure on businesses to adopt sustainable building practices and green construction methods. Limited large-scale investment in net zero carbon buildings and low embodied carbon materials constrains growth. Financial fragility among small firms is slowing innovation in renewable building materials and circular construction strategies needed to achieve true net zero whole life carbon outcomes.
Practical demonstrations such as the adaptive reuse of Bacon Mews House exemplify sustainable architecture focused on embodied carbon in materials and end-of-life reuse in construction. These projects demonstrate how whole life carbon performance and lifecycle assessment can underpin sustainable urban development, transforming heritage spaces into low carbon buildings aligned with BREEAM and modern eco-friendly construction criteria. They prove that environmental sustainability in construction depends on measurable building lifecycle performance, not rhetoric.
Governments adopting circular economy policies and incentivising green building materials show that sustainable material specification and environmental product declarations (EPDs) can make decarbonising the built environment a market reality. Those clinging to outdated procurement frameworks risk undermining carbon footprint reduction and life cycle thinking in construction. The sector’s future resilience lies in embedding environmental impact of construction metrics into every phase, ensuring sustainable design delivers carbon neutral construction and low-impact construction from concept to completion.
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