heat-reflecting sheets

[Sam Carana]

Engineers Takayuki Toyama of company Avix Inc in Kanagawa, Japan, and
Alan Stainer of Middlesex University Business School, London, UK,
suggest that, to combat global warming, heat-reflecting sheets could
be installed in arid areas. This would not only reflect much of the
sun's heat back into space, but could also help fight desertification.
They add that the same approach might also be used to cover areas of
the oceans to increase the Earth's total heat reflectivity.

The team's calculations suggest that covering an area of a little more
than 60,000 square kilometres with reflective sheet, at a cost of some
$280 billion, would result in net cooling, if there would be no
reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Toyama et al.
Cosmic Heat Emission concept to 'stop' global warming.
International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2009; 9 (1/2):
151 DOI:
http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=22093

Also discussed at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081222114546.htm
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1223-desert.html