Painting mountains white to counter climate change
By ANITuesday, June 29, 2010
LONDON - Eduardo Gold has devised a novel method to combat the effects of climate change - the activist has set out to paint the peaks of the Andes white.
By splashing the mountains with paint Gold, 55, hopes to replicate the effect of Andean glaciers, which reflect back sunlight and hence heat back through the atmosphere.
“A white surface reflects the sun’s rays back through the atmosphere and into space, in doing so it cools the area around it too,” The Telegraph quoted Gold, as saying.
He added: “In effect in creates a micro-climate, so we can say that the cold generates more cold, just as heat generates more heat.”
Four workmen have been assigned the task of painting three peaks, starting with Peru’s Chalon Sombrero peak, which lies 4,756 metres above sea level.
The World Bank is funding the 135,000pound project after Gold won a “100 Ideas to Save the Planet” competition in 2009. (ANI)
