Engineering360: "Study: Innovative 'cool pavements' can help negate climate change effects"

We used to get that same effect by burning rubbish at the dump...but I think painting all the roads white every year would work well...cost ? A trillion dollars a year? who knows...but isn't an ice age coming? Maybe we could just let it all play out and see how that goes first....?

We want to absorb and re-radiate heat during heating season, and reflect it during cooling season. Is it possible to develop a durable surface with an albedo that increases with temperature?

An easier way to handle the problem is to plant deciduous trees up-sun of the pavement, if sufficient water is available. Shade in the summer, heat absorption by the pavement in the winter, and incorporation of more carbon in the ecosystem - that's all good.

The hard part is figuring out how to retrofit the wall-to-wall pavement in most urban downtown areas. Maybe hydroponically grown vines on trellises over the pavement would work - some R&D on freeze-tolerant hydroponic systems would be in order for that. Another possibility is to shade the streets with PV panels, but that won't be as effective at mitigating urban heat island effects as plants.