Climate Veterans And Inventors Team Up To Launch New Tools To Cool The Earth With Reflection

SEATTLE, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A diverse team of inventors, climate scientists, and policy experts today launched Reflective Earth (www.ReflectiveEarth.org), a new organization devoted to slowing global warming quickly by reflecting more of the sun's energy back to space. Reflective Earth (RE) is already collaborating on three continents to build and test new technologies that could immediately improve the Earth's heat balance and reduce the severity of catastrophic climate events.

RE is the brainchild of Seattle-based entrepreneur-inventor Jeff Haley, who, in 2019 identified the need to take a unified approach to exploring the single fastest way to cool the planet: "Reflectivity, often referred to by scientists as 'albedo', can be mobilized far more quickly than changes in the fossil fuel system to reduce global warming," he said, adding that RE is technology-agnostic. "We are working anywhere we can, from rooftops in West Africa to the heights of the Earth's stratosphere, to test and deploy technologies that can make a difference fast."

Reflective Earth's first tool is already available on its website. The Reflectivity Optimization Map (www.ReflectiveEarth.org/map) allows anyone to assess the impact of changing the reflectivity of roofs and other surfaces anywhere on Earth. The organization's lead scientist, Dr. Brian Smoliak, pioneered an approach to estimate reflectivity potential at any point on the planet using data from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECWMF). "No matter where they are, homeowners, contractors, advocates and government officials can now quantify how much difference more reflective buildings, roads, and other surfaces can make in the fight for a cooler planet," Smoliak said.

Reflective Earth's Managing Director is Dr. Michel Gelobter, a serial social change entrepreneur who helped craft climate laws in over 14 states and contributed to launching the climate justice movement. "We are blessed to be collaborating with scientists and grassroots change-makers from India to Senegal  on a set of 'next-generation' ways to cool the Earth. We're moving from the map, a new source of information, to real world prototypes that actually lower the amount of damaging heat wherever they're deployed."

About Reflective Earth
Reflective Earth is a nonprofit devoted to slowing climate change by increasing the reflection of heat away from the Earth as safely and quickly as feasible.

SOURCE Reflective Earth

Related Links

http://www.ReflectiveEarth.org