{"id":16270,"date":"2011-11-01T13:49:49","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T20:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=16270"},"modified":"2018-02-02T00:04:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T00:04:34","slug":"the-easy-fix-that-isnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/11\/01\/the-easy-fix-that-isnt\/","title":{"rendered":"The Easy Fix That Isn\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"

Touted as a simple way to combat climate change, white roofs may actually increase global warming, according to a new Stanford study.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Installing white roofs (or painting them white) has been promoted as a way to help slow global warming. New research shows that white roofs may actually add to global warming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Alyson Kenward<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in staving off climate change without trying too hard, painting your roof white seems like a complete no-brainer. It\u2019s far cheaper than trading in your SUV for a Prius, and it turns the laws of physics to best advantage. Dark roofs absorb sunlight that heats up your house, office tower, or apartment building. That means you\u2019re bound to crank up the energy-intensive air conditioner to keep pace in the summer months \u2014 and since electricity in the U.S. comes largely from fossil fuels, the net result is more heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, and more global warming.
\n
\nBut a white roof does just the opposite. It bounces sunlight right back into the sky, just as light clothing helps you stay cool in the summer. Cooler buildings need less air conditioning, which translates to fewer emissions of heat-trapping gases. That\u2019s why Energy Secretary (and Physics Nobel prizewinner) Steven Chu endorsed<\/a> the idea back in 2009 and why cities like New York and Philadelphia have launched white-roof projects.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, what seems obvious is not always true, and a new study available online<\/a> and soon coming out in the Journal of Climate<\/em> reveals some potentially bad news for white roofs. When Stanford University engineer Mark Jacobson, and his grad student John Hoeve modeled the total climate response to white roofs and other urban surfaces, they found the lightening may actually cause more<\/em> global warming.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why: the sunlight that bounces off white roofs doesn\u2019t all fly out into space. A lot of it is absorbed by particles of soot and other dark-colored pollutants that float around in the atmosphere (those same particles are already responsible for a good portion of global warming). The particles heat up, just like your house would have, and the net result is a warmer atmosphere. You house might be cooler, but it would be at the expense of heating the planet.<\/p>\n

In short, says Jacobson in a press release: “There does not seem to be a benefit from investing in white roofs. The most important thing is to reduce emissions of the pollutants that contribute to global warming.” So much for trying to take the easy way out.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, says Jacobson, there is another way to use your roof in the fight against climate change: cover it with solar panels. The panels intercept sunlight before it hits the roof, so your house doesn\u2019t heat up so much. They don\u2019t bounce the light back into the atmosphere where it can heat up soot particles. And they generate at least some electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. It\u2019s not quite as cheap as painting your roof. But unlike that feel-good solution, it\u2019s actually likely to be effective.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Climate Central<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Touted as a simple way to combat climate change, white roofs may actually increase global warming, according to a new Stanford study. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11421,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[14,114,550,674],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-16270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thescience","tag-adaptation","tag-climate-central","tag-stanford","tag-whte-roofs"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nThe Easy Fix That Isn\u2019t | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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