Watch carbon dioxide move through Earth’s atmosphere. With this high...

NASA Climate Change 2 years ago

Watch carbon dioxide move through Earth’s atmosphere. With this high resolution model, scientists can see CO2 rising from sources like power plants, fires, and cities and watch how that carbon dioxide spreads via wind patterns and atmospheric circulation. Why does the map look like it’s pulsing? That’s the day-night cycle. ☀️🌖 Fires flare up daily and die down at night, and plants take up CO2 during the day as they photosynthesize and release it at night through respiration. Models like this one are important because humans can’t tackle climate change without understanding our carbon dioxide emissions. CO2 is a heat-trapping greenhouse gas and the primary reason for Earth’s rising temperature. Video description: Data visualization of a model showing carbon dioxide emissions. It starts by showing a glove showing mostly North and South America and zooms in on the U.S. Thin lines of bright orange pop up and mix into pale yellow-brown swirls in the atmosphere. The animation seems to blink, indicating the day-night cycles of carbon dioxide emissions. The animation zooms out and the globe spins, showing other continents. #Earth #NASA #Climate #CarbonDioxide #Science

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published couple of minutes ago

Momentum in sustainable construction is now driven by tangible progress in materials and methods rather than declarations. The focus on reducing embodied carbon in materials and undertaking robust whole life carbon assessment is reshaping how developers, architects and engineers define sustainable building design. Initiatives such as the Reducing Plastics in Construction Summit reinforce the value of renewable building materials, eco-design for buildings and circular economy in construction frameworks to eliminate petroleum-based polymers and improve resource efficiency in construction. Biobased composites, recyclable resins and modular approaches are being evaluated through lifecycle assessment tools that can accurately measure the carbon footprint of construction and inform sustainable material specification throughout each project stage.

Digitisation is rapidly becoming integral to low carbon design and energy-efficient buildings. Advanced platforms now enable unified modelling of cost, performance and carbon, aligning lifecycle cost optimisation with environmental sustainability in construction. TM2 Bygg’s software-led method illustrates how low carbon building processes built on data-driven insights help achieve net zero carbon buildings and deliver improved building lifecycle performance.

At the policy level, regulators are reinforcing requirements for measurable reductions in embodied carbon and clear evidence of net zero whole life carbon outcomes. These shifts point toward an industry-wide transformation grounded in whole life carbon transparency and the adoption of BREEAM v7 and other sustainable building practices to standardise reporting. The result is a market that values circular construction strategies, end-of-life reuse in construction and environmental product declarations (EPDs) as verification of a project’s environmental impact of construction.

New renewable energy infrastructure, including next‑generation geothermal systems, could redefine the carbon footprint reduction potential of green building materials and low carbon construction materials. As baseload renewables expand, achieving carbon neutral construction and sustainable urban development becomes increasingly viable. The sector is moving beyond pilot projects toward a mature phase of green construction, integrating life cycle thinking in construction and decarbonising the built environment as core business practice.

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