Record August temperatures confirmed: summer 2023 was the hottest summer in...

NASA Climate Change 2 years ago

Record August temperatures confirmed: summer 2023 was the hottest summer in NASA’s temperature record, by a large margin. 🥵This summer continues a long-term trend of rising temperatures caused by human activities. All three months of summer 2023 broke records. July 2023 was the hottest month ever in NASA’s GISTEMP record, and the hottest July. June 2023 was the hottest June, and August 2023 was the hottest August. 🌡️ NASA’s GISTEMP temperature record starts in 1880 and uses millions of measurements of surface temperature from weather stations, ships and ocean buoys, and Antarctic research stations. Other agencies and organizations who keep similar global temperature records find the same pattern of long-term warming. Earth is already feeling the effects of climate change, and the events of summer 2023 are a prime example. Wildfires scorched Canada in June, a heat dome settled over the American Southwest in July, and intense storms like Idalia lashed the U.S. in August. Video description: Two stacked data visualizations. Between them, white text reads “Summer 2023 Was the Hottest in NASA’s Record.” On top, a line graph with monthly temperature anomalies from each year from 1880 to 2023 grows across the graph to create a stacked bell shape. The Y-axis is labeled negative 3 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius and the X-axis has each month from January to December. As time goes on, the curved lines stack higher and higher, and the colors of the lines change from white and blue to dark red. Finally, the 2023 line stops at August, the latest month we have data, and it’s clear that June, July, & August 2023 were all hotter than any previous respective month. On the bottom, a map of the globe with temperature anomalies in Celsius. Anomalies up to 3 degrees higher than average are shown in red. Anomalies up to 3 degrees lower than average are shown in blue. The animation shows August temperature anomalies starting in 1880 through 2023. As the animation plays, various areas are red or blue. By the end, nearly everywhere on Earth is some shade of red except for some places in the Antarctic. #Earth #NASA #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Summer

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 8 hours ago



The momentum toward sustainable construction continues to intensify, driven by renewed focus on the circular economy and whole life carbon performance. At the RWM Expo, industry leaders underlined that circular economy in construction is no longer aspirational but a regulatory imperative. Jacob Hayler of the Environmental Services Association emphasised that scalable implementation of circular construction strategies and measurable resource efficiency in construction are now critical. Across the sector, firms are being urged to move beyond ambition and commit to whole life carbon assessment frameworks that quantify the environmental impact of construction and highlight opportunities for carbon footprint reduction.

Recent political developments have unsettled this progress. Government proposals to abolish the Carbon Price Support and roll back low-carbon frameworks threaten the policy continuity necessary for decarbonising the built environment. Removing the scaffolding around renewables would undermine the confidence needed to deliver net zero carbon buildings, carbon neutral construction, and sustainable supply chains. Analysts warn that weakening energy market instruments would compromise investment in low embodied carbon materials and deter uptake of low carbon construction materials, slowing the adoption of eco-friendly construction techniques and low carbon design principles.

Nevertheless, institutional investors such as Railpen continue to demonstrate leadership in environmental sustainability in construction through data-backed commitments. By pursuing a 2050 net-zero target and engaging more than 70% of portfolio emissions, Railpen is actively extending life cycle thinking in construction across its built assets. Its strategy aligns with a growing investor emphasis on whole life carbon performance, embodied carbon reduction, and building lifecycle performance transparency. This integration of finance and sustainability expectations is making sustainable building design and sustainable material specification standard due diligence factors within development planning.

Regulatory uncertainty in Europe highlights persistent friction between ambition and delivery. Delays to the EU’s deforestation regulations continue to complicate the sourcing of renewable building materials such as certified timber and biomass. These materials are central to eco-design for buildings and life cycle cost evaluation within green construction projects seeking BREEAM or BREEAM v7 certification. The administrative lag is raising concerns about the traceability of products covered by environmental product declarations (EPDs) and the coherence of sustainability benchmark systems across borders.

Professional institutions continue to uphold quality standards as industry culture evolves. The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management’s new Fellowship appointments confirm how sustainable building practices, sustainable design, and end-of-life reuse in construction have entered mainstream qualification pathways. Together with advances in green infrastructure and design philosophy, these developments reinforce a unified pathway toward net zero whole life carbon delivery. As regulators, investors, and designers align around lifecycle assessment and low-impact construction, the sector is positioning itself as a cornerstone of sustainable urban development and a leading driver of the global low-carbon transition.

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