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 2 hours ago



Westminster’s refreshed National Planning Policy Framework signals a default yes to homes near rail hubs, accelerating sustainable urban development while curbing transport emissions. To secure durable value, schemes should embed whole life carbon assessment from concept stage, quantify embodied carbon, and optimise life cycle cost alongside placemaking and green infrastructure. Brownfield intensification that couples eco-design for buildings with resource efficiency in construction can cut the carbon footprint of construction and support net zero whole life carbon targets, aligning with BREEAM v7.

Energy remains the strategic risk. Developers are moving ahead with electrification regardless of policy noise, designing grid-ready sites, specifying heat pumps, and tightening controls to deliver energy-efficient buildings and net zero carbon buildings. The BCIA’s BEMS Delivery Framework gives clients a common standard for interoperable controls, improving building lifecycle performance and closing the performance gap. With over two-thirds of households already cutting energy use, demand is rising for sustainable building design that delivers verifiable lifecycle assessment outcomes and measurable carbon footprint reduction across operation and maintenance.

Rising summer temperatures are making resilience a core brief. Specifications now need passive shading, thermal mass, and material choices that balance embodied carbon in materials with durability and low-impact construction. Sustainable material specification should prioritise low embodied carbon materials and renewable building materials supported by environmental product declarations (EPDs), while enabling end-of-life reuse in construction through circular construction strategies. Adopting low carbon construction materials, green building materials and green building products within a circular economy in construction advances sustainable building practices, sustainable design and green construction. The result is low carbon design that de-risks delivery, supports carbon neutral construction, and accelerates decarbonising the built environment.

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