Not if it’s reflected back into space.
Comment on Ultra-white ceramic cools buildings with record-high 99.6% reflectivity
schmidtster@lemmy.world 10 months ago
So there’s gotta be a downside to reflecting all this heat though?
I know windows sometimes can focus and reflect the sun setting your neighbours house on fire, birds aren’t going to affected, bugs?
ExLisper@linux.community 10 months ago
schmidtster@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Where it has to pass through the atmosphere again? With more time to heat up the atmosphere as well?
The answer isn’t this simple, I’m curious why people think they could answer it in a sentence or two.
ExLisper@linux.community 10 months ago
Radiation is not absorbed by transparent gases. The ground is heated and air heats up by contact. It’s a well known fact that snow radiates back the heat and lowers the overall temperature. That’s how ice age works.
schmidtster@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Sure, but there is more than just transparent gases, there is also some solid objects.
No that’s not a well known fact at all since it’s not even remotely correct… that has more to do with the sheer amount of ice cooling the planet than diffusion reflection.
doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
If the light hits the ground and is scattered then nearly all of the energy stays in the planet and eventually heats the atmosphere. If it’s reflected, even though it must pass through the atmosphere again, some of the energy is rejected back into space.
doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
If the top of my head
- it cools your house in the winter, too
- It’s probably annoyingly bright if you can see the roof from ground level
- likely to degrade over time necessitating replacing tiles to maintain the effect
- Doesn’t work as well if you’ve got solar panels or trees obstructing it
- other stuff, probably
pennomi@lemmy.world 10 months ago
It looks like this reflects and scatters the light, rather than reflects and focuses it. Otherwise it would look like a mirror, not a ceramic.
schmidtster@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That would only matter for something that it can focus on, it’s still reflecting. All the heat and at scale it’s not tested.
Adding more heat and heat currents into the atmosphere, cannot be a good thing long term.