The U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center is an online hub featuring a collection of data sets that have insights into greenhouse gas sources, sinks, emissions, and fluxes.
An example of a dataset is the methane gas information detected by NASA’s EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) mission. Located on the International Space Station, EMIT is an imaging spectrometer that measures light in visible and infrared wavelengths and thus can measure release of methane on Earth.
“A goal of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center is to accelerate the collaborative use of Earth science data,” said Argyro Kavvada, center program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re working to get the right data into the hands of people who can use it to manage and track greenhouse gas emissions.” Explore: earth.gov/ghgcenter
#COP28 #GreenhouseGas #ClimateChange #NASA #Methane #ClimateData #ClimateScience
Image Description: A graphic with text. At the bottom of the image is the top of a purple globe taken from a data visualization shown in the second slide. Above the purple globe is text in white font: At COP28, NASA and other federal agencies launched the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center to make climate data more accessible.
Video Description: In the second slide is a volumetric data visualization of the total methane on a global scale added on Earth’s atmosphere in 2021. Earth is rotating against a black baground. Swirls of purple cover the globe, indicating methane in the atmosphere. A monthly timeline at the bottom shows time passing in a year.
A tightening regulatory and technical landscape is redefining sustainable construction across the UK and beyond. The Building Safety Act is reshaping project governance by requiring transparent reporting and accountability that link safety with environmental sustainability in construction. Compliance processes are driving a shift toward whole life carbon assessment, embedding sustainable building design principles at the earliest design stage and quantifying both operational and embodied carbon.
Digital systems such as the government’s waste‑tracking initiative are enabling circular economy in construction practices, mandating traceable material flows and revealing the carbon footprint of construction through verified lifecycle assessment. These data‑driven mechanisms enhance resource efficiency in construction and reinforce the wider transition to low embodied carbon materials and eco‑friendly construction.
Investment is converging on decarbonisation at scale. A new £120 million waste‑to‑hydrogen facility is designed to transform residual waste into clean fuel, supporting low carbon design and resilient net zero carbon buildings. Growth in grid‑balancing storage improves the stability of renewable‑powered operations, a prerequisite for energy‑efficient buildings and low carbon building performance across portfolios.
Governance frameworks are also advancing. The creation of a dedicated leadership structure for the Greenhouse Gas Protocol elevates global consistency in measuring whole life carbon and encourages transparent benchmarking using environmental product declarations (EPDs). This maturity strengthens sustainable building practices, fosters green construction aligned with BREEAM v7 standards, and supports decarbonising the built environment through life cycle cost and performance management.
The cumulative effect signals a transition to net zero whole life carbon imperatives governed by robust data, certified materials, and measurable outcomes. The progress may appear administrative, yet it represents the essential infrastructure of sustainable material specification, circular construction strategies, and long‑term green infrastructure supporting a truly carbon neutral construction sector.
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