Is a mass increase of surface albedo a viable mitigator of global warming?

1 pointsby djordjije2 lata temu3 comments

I have seen a lot of posts here in regards to new technologies that create renewable energy, sequester carbon dioxide and make current use of energy more efficient.

I am not a professional in this field by any means. But I remember learning once that whiter colors reflect more light back to space. It seems like a pretty simple way to help with the cool down. But I am not sure if it's just something that is simply not feasible because of how much of the global surface would need to be altered. I have not seen a lot of research on this.

Is this something that is just not worth the effort?

3 comments

PaulHoule2 lata temu

The most developed idea like this is

https://csl.noaa.gov/news/2024/400_0320.html

There is definitely research on how vegetation cover affects albedo

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7641169/

It is also widely known you can reduce the urban heat island effect by using whiter colored roofs. I haven't seen any paper that makes a conclusive effort that things like spreading out light colored sand or tarps isn't worth it.

dave44202 lata temu

Part of climate change is that the Earth’s albedo is heading in the opposite direction — as the ice caps melt, less light gets reflected into space, more gets absorbed.

It feels like you’d need to lighten the Earth’s surface a lot just to counter that effect, let alone mitigate warming from other causes.

On a local level, this can work well to keep a town/city cooler. I’d plant greenery as well rather than just paint roads white though.

subject40562 lata temu

https://makesunsets.com/