Already analyzed, white paint would help with heat island effect but do nothing for climate. Also temp drop in large city would be on order of 0.6 degrees C. Until such time as we could make entire deserts and farmland white it's useless for affecting climate.
Simplistically speaking the difference between a perfect mirror and a perfect white surface (perfect in the sense that they work over the entire spectrum) is that the white surface scatters the light into all directions, while a mirror maintains the angles of the waves or rays if you will (angle of reflection equals angle of incidence).
Which one is 'better' in an engineering and economic sense would be the one that's easier and cheaper to construct, operate, and maintain.
white paint does nothing for climate (Score:0, Troll)
Already analyzed, white paint would help with heat island effect but do nothing for climate. Also temp drop in large city would be on order of 0.6 degrees C. Until such time as we could make entire deserts and farmland white it's useless for affecting climate.
https://e360.yale.edu/features... [yale.edu]
Re: (Score:2)
Re:white paint does nothing for climate (Score:5, Informative)
Simplistically speaking the difference between a perfect mirror and a perfect white surface (perfect in the sense that they work over the entire spectrum) is that the white surface scatters the light into all directions, while a mirror maintains the angles of the waves or rays if you will (angle of reflection equals angle of incidence).
Which one is 'better' in an engineering and economic sense would be the one that's easier and cheaper to construct, operate, and maintain.