.. this makes so much damn sense. Every time I had the misfortune of walking through a loaded grocery store parking lot in the summer it always felt intensely hot even compared to the asphalt roadways.
this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2025
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Fuck Cars
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Giant metal piles of glass and metal don't tend to cool off that well in the sun.
Not only that but they act as solar ovens.
I'd support a law that says if you're going to build a parking lot, it needs to be covered in solar panels. That way the cars under it are shaded, and clean electricity is being produced.
Any company that has acres of parking lots is run by fools if they don't utilize all that land for free power.
They also said that adoption of electric vehicles, which emit less waste heat than conventional cars, and make sure these new cars are built with light, heat-reflecting paints at the vehicle design stage.
This like a "more guns" solution to gun violence... except, applied to cars.
That's some crazy mental gymnastics to not say "We need more public transit to get cars off the road".
It really is. If the default is "everyone must have a car to go anywhere", then there will be no solutions that actually work for the betterment of the environment or society.
Not more, just better. I am yet to see a better gun, but in this case I would argue these measures could result in a better car. Although an ev with reflective paint wouldn't be as helpful in combatting the heat island effect as a public transport vehicle with the same reflective paint, considering that would leave a lot more space for greenery.
A more low caliber guns solution to gun violence.
“A .22 is barely lethal, this will lower the fatality rate of mass shootings.”
Not really. This reduces unwanted impact while preserving intended function. Heating by light Absorption is not an intended impact of cars.
Heating by light Absorption is not an intended impact of cars.
Neither are the tens of thousands of fatalities per year.
It doesn't matter what the intention is, if the end result is still a massive loss for our communities.
It's often been said that if the side-effects of medication outweigh the benefits, then you probably shouldn't be using it. Same should apply for most things, especially multi-ton vehicles, which only claim to offer "convenience" as the number one benefit.
Paint everything white to make up for the loss of the polar ice caps /s
This unironically a thing some people have advocated for.
Its not the stupidest of all proposal, as locally it warms up less (white reflects more, darker colors absorb more of the solar energy). I dont know for certain but it might be a reason that people in hot countries sometimes paint their houses white.
Globally it wont make a difference of course. It isnt a mitigation/prevention of climate change but rather a adaption. Like stretching a sun-sail over the porch.
In both cases it makes more sense to choose biological solutions if possible (grass instead of white asphalt, a tree instead of a sun sail).
I dont know for certain but it might be a reason that people in hot countries sometimes paint their houses white.
This is a thing, but only in the places where the air doesn't cool down too much such as in a desert.
Globally it wont make a difference of course.
It won't change the climate, but ice (also in mountain ranges) and clouds reflect light and heat. The more ice is lost because of heating, the less heat is reflecting, so earth heats more. This is one of the tipping points that matters in climate change. If there are enough white surfaces, we could push that point of no return a bit. It might not only make sense locally. But i guess putting effort in biological solutions is indeed a much better way to go.
Well, I had my (flat) roof insulated this year and the outer surface is grayish white, so I'm doing my part!
Yea, I also thought about tipping points. But I think that the white buildings/streets or even painted surface could never make up for the lost (white) ice surface
My city recently passed a "cool roof" ordinance, which requires new roof installations to use more reflective materials. When you're talking about a roof over conditioned space, the benefit isn't just reflecting more infrared back into space, it's also reducing the AC load on the building below and thus global warming due to energy use.
Globally it wont make a difference of course.
If adopted at scale, maybe it could. Apparently 10% of the Earth's surface is currently covered by ice and 3% of it is urban, so if all the urban areas were covered in white surfaces the effect on Earth's albedo could be about 1/3 as strong as the ice caps'. (Maybe more, considering that urban areas are at lower latitudes.)
Climate engineering is generally frowned upon. But a localized intervention in the build environment might work and be ethically acceptable.
Including the cars! Windshields and all!
It seems like white and silver are two of the most common car colors. If color has a measurable impact, it should already be measurable