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Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California have suggested a plan to drastically reduce global warming, by painting the world white. If implemented successfully, it would be the equivalent of taking the world’s 600 million cars off the road for 18 years.
Hashem Akbari and Surabi Meno, along with Art Rosenfeld, California Energy Commissioner and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, are so convinced that their idea will work, that they have proposed a “Cool World” plan that would use white roofs, and solar-reflective roofs of other colors, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help delay atmospheric heating effects.
The team reckon that current flat roofs only relect 10-20% of solar energy, absorbing much of the remainder to heat up the buildings they cover. Cities also heat up far more than the countryside because of their dark roofs, dark pavements, and the absence of vegetation – an urban “heat-island” effect that raises the average air temperature of cities and their suburbs.
In a paper to be published in the journal Climatic Change, the team estimate that if buildings and streets in the world’s urban areas are re-fitted with “cool” materials, which reflect more sunlight than conventional materials, it could offset the global-warming effects of 44 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions.
I love low-tech solutions like this and, although it might sound faintly off-the-wall, the idea seems so simple that it couldn’t hurt to experiment with it on a small-scale to measure the projected effects. Now where’s that white paint…
Image Credit – tomsaint11 via flickr on a Creative Commons license
I can think if two very valid points as to why this is really wrong. First of all its eating another carnivore. Thats not how nature works and theres a reason why. Nature is never wrong irtnever makes mistakes. Leave it to fucking humans to screw things up. Second of all this wouldnt be as big an is if it werent for the WAY tgese animals were killed. These neadrathals have no respect for the animal or its body and they torture it to death. If they raised them well and with love and killed them quick and swiftly there isnt anything wrong with that ( except for the whole eating another carnivore part) its just plain discusting but hey, i heard they eat rats too.
You are one sick person. I know this is 3 yrs later. but my god I hope you are gone!!! Eat cats and dogs and torture is fine- you sick fu–k!
I didn’t even get through comment one! Chinese people are sick!!!! Sorry- the way they tortured these poor loving animals (cats and dogs) are inexcusable (don’t care they are fuc–k starving or not) I have no empathy for any humane being that could treat a loving innocent animals(with nerve,pain, and feelings, just like humane being has is beyond me. Are they (Chinese that stupid that they don’t relize they are living feeling souls that have done nothing wrong but want to love you???
I’m sorry but all I can do is laugh at all of you, this idea, and the idiot Obama! You are all just to funny!
this is so ridiculous. what about winter when the heating costs will skyrocket? summer isn’t the only season in most of the world. people should really think things through. and just a few hundred years ago greenland was green and nordic people had crops growing in what is now ice. we are not even close to the warmest periods in recorded history, not even in the last 100 years. people get the real facts before you start this silliness
When did the word “scientist” become synonymous with the word “idiot?”