the sheep solution

Have you heard of the sheep-albedo hypothesis?


I think it is hands down the silliest climate solution i have ever heard. It’s not that i don’t think it’d work– it probably would–but if you run with the logic of it, you’re gonna get yourself in trouble!

The hypothesis is based on very simple reasoning: 

“most sheep are white, and therefore have a higher albedo than the land on which they typically graze” -from RealClimate

Albedo is the extent to which an object reflects sunlight. So the idea is that if there are more white sheep roaming around, more sunlight will be reflected away from the earth and there will be less CO2 in the atmosphere. 

ok fine. 

but what are you suggesting? 

Not all sheep are white. From wikipedia, “Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown and even spotted.”

What about all those sheep of color? 

(do you see where I’m going with this?)

Maybe the government should subsidize sunscreen. Maybe hair-bleaching should come back in style. maybe we should all walk around with white umbrellas. 

I mean, have you considered the possibility that the top of my head might be more environmentally-friendly than the top of yours? 

I don’t mean to sneer at these kinds of solutions. I am totally down with Steven Chu’s white paint solution. It’s brilliantly simple, and way cheaper and more feasible than anything else out there. 
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I’m just saying.