Antonio Gallo, Gaetano La Bella
Global warming and climate change is, without a doubt, one of the most debated scientific topics of the 21st century.
Beyond the prejudices shown by the different factions of the scientific community on these issues, it is believed that, in addition to the acclaimed global policies implemented, considered the only valid ones for the reduction of global temperatures related to the emission of greenhouse gases, it is important to expand scientific research in order to consider new and different approaches, probably less vexing for the world population and easier to apply, which can intervene on the increase in temperatures and the consequent energy balance of the planet Earth.
Among these possibilities, a strategy that has mobilized, in recent years, a growing interest from a minority of the scientific community is that of the positive effect induced by artificial reflective surfaces on the global temperatures of the planet and on the possibility of being able to use such interactions/consequences, through a targeted increase in reflective surfaces, to control the growth of global temperatures.
In other words, artificially increasing the Earth’s albedo, i.e. the Earth’s ability to reflect sunlight tout
court, could contribute to reducing the overall energy absorbed by the lithosphere and hydrosphere and the consequent emission of infrared radiation, notoriously responsible for the excitation of molecules belonging to the natural “greenhouse blanket”, without which the Earth would be a glacial planet (-22° C) and substantially hostile to all humanity.
In particular, we evaluate how surfaces such as solar panels, agricultural greenhouses or white-painted roofs of buildings produce an increase in albedo in the areas where they are present, through the increase in additional reflectivity that could actually help limit global warming. It is as if we were providing the Earth with a reflective barrier, capable of rejecting part of the solar radiation and, consequently, alleviating climate pressure.
The aim of this article is to examine, on a local and global scale, what is the incidence, in orders of magnitude, of the presence of reflective surfaces and what is the action of a possible expansion of these surfaces and their consequent impact on the climate system. In particular, attention has been paid to how these surfaces influence phenomena such as cloud formation and atmospheric circulation, two key factors for regulating the climate and the alarming increases in temperatures.
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