Take in the northern Great Barrier Reef 🪸
Located in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef system in the world. Coral reefs are one of the most important ecosystems in the world. Together they support over a quarter of all known marine species, protect coastlines during storms, and help local economies through fisheries and tourism.
However, decades of data, collected in part from @NASA’s airborne and satellite missions, show that corals are declining rapidly. Human actions, like burning fossil fuels, are shifting our global climate by warming the air and ocean. But that isn’t the only way: Pollution and physical damage from ships and divers also play a role.
Satellites provide scientists with important information on the environment around coral reefs, including ocean temperatures and water quality. This helps them understand changes to corals over time.
Image Descriptions:
A satellite image of the northern Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The water is a dark blue with the reefs are turquoise in color. In the second image, the reefs are labels top to bottom Undine Reef, St Crispin Reef, Rudder Roof, Opal Reef, Tongue Teef, and Batt Reef.
#CoralReef #EarthFromSpace #NASA #ClimateChange #GreatBarrierReef
Sustainable construction is accelerating towards measurable decarbonisation as innovation, policy, and supply chain governance begin to align. In London, bio‑based wallboards such as Adaptavate’s Breathaboard—used in Legal & General’s new headquarters—demonstrate how low embodied carbon materials with environmental product declarations (EPDs) are entering large‑scale deployment. This marks a shift from theory to delivery in eco‑friendly construction and underscores the importance of Whole Life Carbon Assessment across sustainable building design.
UK policy now links agriculture and the built environment through a £240 million expansion of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, improving soil health and cutting reliance on high‑carbon fertilisers. These measures support decarbonising the built environment and address the embodied carbon in materials central to net zero Whole Life Carbon targets. As scrutiny of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol exposes inconsistencies in corporate carbon reporting, reliable lifecycle assessment frameworks are becoming critical to verifying low carbon building outcomes and aligning procurement with sustainable material specification.
Growth in renewables, driven by projections of a fourfold expansion in offshore wind capacity by 2035, is reshaping operational emissions and strengthening the foundation for carbon neutral construction and energy‑efficient buildings designed under BREEAM V7 guidelines. This integration of renewable building materials and design principles reflects a more mature phase in the industry’s evolution towards net zero carbon buildings and a functioning Circular Economy in construction.
The sector’s trajectory points towards verified performance, where Whole Life Carbon, Life Cycle Cost, and transparent building lifecycle performance replace aspirations with measurable delivery. The transition from demonstration to large‑scale adaptation defines modern environmental sustainability in construction, confirming that the next decade will test implementation rather than intent across every level of sustainable building practices and green construction worldwide.
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