The only certainty about Summer Olympics weather is that there's really no...

CNN Climate 2 years ago

The only certainty about Summer Olympics weather is that there's really no certainty at all. Extreme heat is a growing threat for elite athletes, with cases of heat exhaustion and heatstroke becoming more common as fossil fuel pollution pushes temperatures and humidity levels up. Spectators, especially those those who fly in from cooler climates, are vulnerable to extreme heat, as well. Most of the world's cities will be unable to host the Games during summer in the coming decades as they blow past the threshold of safe humid heat, according to a CNN analysis of data from CarbonPlan, a climate science and analytics-focused nonprofit group. Heat stress can be measured with something called wet-bulb globe temperature — a combination of heat, humidity, windspeed, sun angle and cloud cover. CarbonPlan found that by 2050, heat stress in almost all cities in the eastern part of the US would shoot well past the 82.1-degree limit, beyond which experts recommend canceling sporting events. In other words, holding the Summer Games in these cities would be a huge health risk for the athletes. Read more at the link in our bio. Note: Wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is a measurement that combines heat, humidity, windspeed, sun angle and cloud cover. It is a more a nuanced metric for setting exertional heat stress thresholds. The American College of Sports Medicine has set over 82°F WBGT as the threshold to cancel continuous physical activity. * Indonesia's host city will likely be Nusantara — a new capital city currently under construction — which is not included in the source data. The nearest city, Balikpapan, has been used in its place. * For countries south of the equator — Australia and Brazil — the date used was Jan. 20 to Feb. 11. 📸: Illustration; CNN/Adobe Stock

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 6 hours ago



Sustainable construction is entering a stricter commercial and accountability phase. SDCL Efficiency’s planned wind-down shows that retrofit and energy-efficient buildings are vulnerable when investor confidence weakens, even though they remain central to net zero carbon buildings and to decarbonising the built environment. The message is blunt: environmental sustainability in construction must prove life cycle cost, building lifecycle performance and durable returns, rather than rely on green construction narratives. Developers and asset owners face greater pressure to embed sustainable building design, low carbon design and lifecycle assessment across existing estates and new low carbon building projects.

The Considerate Constructors’ Scheme has revised its checklist and scoring model for the UK and Ireland, pushing procurement and site management towards measurable sustainable building practices. Stronger scrutiny should sharpen whole life carbon assessment, embodied carbon control and the management of embodied carbon in materials, low carbon construction materials and resource efficiency in construction. Homes England’s debt facility with Richborough confirms that housing delivery still dominates public policy. Faster build-out without equal focus on whole life carbon, circular economy in construction, life cycle thinking in construction and the carbon footprint of construction risks locking in avoidable emissions. For teams aligning projects with BREEAM and BREEAM v7, the direction is clear: eco-design for buildings, sustainable material specification, environmental product declarations (EPDs) and net zero whole life carbon are becoming core tests of sustainable design.

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