The last 12 months in a row have each set record high temperatures for their...

NASA Climate Change 2 years ago

The last 12 months in a row have each set record high temperatures for their respective month – an unprecedented streak in @nasa’s record. The record months are part of a long-term warming trend driven by human activities, especially greenhouse gas emissions. May 2024 was the warmest May on record, marking a year of record-breaking monthly temperatures. Around the world, average temperatures were 1.14 °C (~2 °F) warmer than the 1951-1980 May average in NASA’s global temperature record, GISTEMP. Our temperature record starts in 1880 and uses data from instruments on ships and buoys and thousands of stations on land. The 12 month streak was affected by El Niño, which usually causes warmer temperatures, among other factors. Earth is moving out of El Niño toward La Niña, which can cause relatively cooler temperatures. Even with La Niña’s influence, 2024 will likely be one of the hottest years on record. This record heat wasn’t just seen on land. Ocean temperatures have also been breaking records. Overall, the ocean is absorbing about 90% of the excess heat in the climate from increased greenhouse gases from human emissions. #Earth #Climate #ClimateChange #Temperature #Data #Science #NASA

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 11 hours ago



Sustainable construction is entering a decisive phase as regulation replaces rhetoric across architecture, engineering and infrastructure. The sector is adopting a measurable framework for environmental sustainability in construction, centring on whole life carbon assessment and verified data on embodied carbon in materials. Leading architecture firms have introduced a sustainability standard for glass, signalling that eco-design for buildings is advancing beyond marketing claims to measurable low carbon design outcomes.

Rising scrutiny of plastics in the built environment now combines lifecycle assessment and health-based evidence, accelerating the shift towards renewable building materials and circular economy in construction strategies. This evolution of sustainable building design aligns with the broader adoption of sustainable material specification and environmental product declarations (EPDs), ensuring that the carbon footprint of construction is tracked transparently across every stage of the project.

The incoming UK government faces intensifying pressure to clarify policy on retrofit funding, embodied carbon reporting, water resilience and the energy efficiency of data centres. Severe drought warnings and pressure on urban water systems underscore the urgencies of resource efficiency in construction and green infrastructure investment. These are becoming core metrics in whole life carbon accounting and life cycle cost evaluation, critical to achieving net zero carbon buildings and future-proofing green construction ecosystems.

Innovations in geothermal and renewable energy sources are redefining net zero whole life carbon trajectories, potentially transforming energy-hungry sites into models of carbon neutral construction. Low carbon construction materials and digital performance tracking are now integral to sustainable building practices and the broader decarbonising of the built environment.

The convergence of materials innovation, circular economy frameworks and decarbonised heat is reshaping sustainable architecture as a high-performance discipline. Industry leaders increasingly see sustainability not as compliance but as the essential business model for sustaining life cycle performance, achieving net zero carbon, and guiding the next generation of low-impact construction.

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