A simple plan to reduce global warming

February 20, 10:58 AMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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Sometimes problems have one solution.  Sometimes they have many solutions.  Sometimes the solutions are complcated.  Sometimes the solutions are simple. By no means the total "fix" to global warming, but a bunch of geoengineers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a relatively simple idea to offset carbon emissions and cool the earths urban surfaces; make rooftops and paved surfaces white.  Or, at least, lighter colors that reflect the sun's rays rather than absorb them.

"We won't be solving the problem of global warming, by any means," (senior scientist, Hashem) Akbari said, "but we will be buying ourselves a little bit of breathing time."

In one study of a "heat island" - a densely packed urban area - Akbari and his team focused on the Los Angeles Basin and found that if all black surfaces were converted to white, the surface temperature could drop as much as 5 degrees. With cooler and cleaner air, a domino effect would occur: Less smog and pollution means fewer health problems, which lead to savings in medical bills. A cooler temperature also means less air conditioning, lower energy use, lower utility bills and so on.

In September, Akbari and his team published a study in the academic journal Climatic Change, which found for every 100 square feet of black rooftop converted to white, a building owner could offset about 1 ton of carbon dioxide.

Add to that all the world's paved urban surfaces (Akbari recommends converting black asphalt to an aged concrete color instead of white), and the team concluded enough cooling benefits to offset 44 billion tons of CO2.

Put another way, that's roughly the same amount of CO2 the planet emits every 18 months. (Link)

Not bad, huh?