New initiative to cool the earth, let’s paint the streets

[Saltwater60]

1 million square feet of L.A. roads are being covered with solar-reflective paint

The initiative covers roads, playgrounds, and parking lots, and it has already cooled the surface by 10 to 12 degrees.

www.fastcompany.com

Fairly ridiculous but backs up my claim of expanding cities makes the earth warmer.

 

[Paxal]

I think the Heat Island Effect is a big deal. But its off the table because well, its the cities. Let them paint the roads and lets see what happens.

 

[Grimscale]

1 million square feet of L.A. roads are being covered with solar-reflective paint

The initiative covers roads, playgrounds, and parking lots, and it has already cooled the surface by 10 to 12 degrees.

www.fastcompany.com

Fairly ridiculous but backs up my claim of expanding cities makes the earth warmer.

Oooo.... I can't wait for the first motorcyclist to wipe out from this and sue the ever-lovin-shi* out of CA.

 

[tgenec86]

Interesting how they deny the "city effect" in the media but validate it with these initiatives. I lived near Atlanta for 15 years, in Lawrenceville just to the northeast of the city center. Over 15 years I observed with extreme regularity thunderstorm fronts that would be severe coming out of Alabama into the western suburbs of Atlanta, dissipate over the city, then reform just to the east of us and be severe again by the time they hit Athens. Not once in a while, not sometimes in the afternoon but not at night - almost EVERY time. Only big tropical storm fronts and the massive systems that fed from the Gulf all the way up the southeastern states into the Carolinas didn't follow that pattern.

 

[ManualF150]

How about instead of converting farm land into housing developments, incentivize farmers to use it to make more money. We need to be growing more here in the US.

 

[lrick]

Why? This has been one of the mildest summers I can remember.

Cities also have more air conditioned spaces which exchanges cooler inside air for hotter outside air.

1 million Sq ft is less than 4 miles of a 50 foot wide road or 23 acres. Go for it libs, you're making someone a boatload of money.

 

[lrick]

Oooo.... I can't wait for the first motorcyclist to wipe out from this and sue the ever-lovin-shi* out of CA.

His insurance will probably get hit with the cost to repaint.

 

[libertysnake]

1 million square feet of L.A. roads are being covered with solar-reflective paint

The initiative covers roads, playgrounds, and parking lots, and it has already cooled the surface by 10 to 12 degrees.

www.fastcompany.com

Fairly ridiculous but backs up my claim of expanding cities makes the earth warmer.

So let me get this straight: to make the earth cooler, we're going to a put a blindingly reflective paint on the roads that will make reading markings an impossible and potentially debilitating task while driving?

Seems like a real "special" idea to me.

 

[Bigfoot]

That's really stupid.

 

[lrick]

So let me get this straight: to make the earth cooler, we're going to a put a blindingly reflective paint on the roads that will make reading markings an impossible and potentially debilitating task while driving?

Seems like a real "special" idea to me.

Another real hazard driving in California is fresh rain after a dry spell. The oils on the road rise and make it very slick...experienced this first hand. Can't imagine how much worse that will be on a painted surface.

 

[Saltwater60]

Interesting how they deny the "city effect" in the media but validate it with these initiatives. I lived near Atlanta for 15 years, in Lawrenceville just to the northeast of the city center. Over 15 years I observed with extreme regularity thunderstorm fronts that would be severe coming out of Alabama into the western suburbs of Atlanta, dissipate over the city, then reform just to the east of us and be severe again by the time they hit Athens. Not once in a while, not sometimes in the afternoon but not at night - almost EVERY time. Only big tropical storm fronts and the massive systems that fed from the Gulf all the way up the southeastern states into the Carolinas didn't follow that pattern.

The government published an entire study on it but yes it gets ignored.