The researchers say that when this paint is used in buildings, it will lower the surface temperature, thereby lowering the interior and reducing the need for ventilation. But what if there was an even greater application, such as lowering the temperature of the entire planet?

How does it work

According to Jeremy Munday, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Davis who researches clean technologies, If a material like Purdue paint did not cover more than 2% of the Earth’s surface, the amount of light reflected back into space would reduce the amount of heat absorbed by the planet.. This will be enough to stabilize the global temperature and halt the climate change process.

In addition, Munday said in an interview with The New York Times that the amount of light reflected back into space would not do much harm to space. “Like pouring a glass of plain water into the ocean”says the scientist.

How much is it?

But how big is 2% of the Earth’s surface? The total surface area of ​​the earth is about 197 million square miles (and most of it is water), so the paint must cover about 4 million square miles.

By comparison, the total area of ​​the United States is just over 3.5 million square miles, so it is necessary to cover the country with sea-to-sea white paint. That would be too much paint.

Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether painting in a single large area is necessary for efficiency, or whether it can be done in parts in different parts of the planet. For example, each country can take on some of the work and provide paint coverage in its territory.