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So, um, we'll keep the ice caps from melting by putting a giant quilt on to keep them warm at night...? |
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Surely quilts only keep you warm if you're a heat source, [DrCurry]? If you're an ice block, they keep you cold. Please reassure me that you knew that, or I'll worry. |
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...and Mylarcheaology is born. |
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Pertinax, do you mean a heat source like the earth? |
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How's that again? The albedo goes up by putting mylar over snow? |
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Well, mylar is nearly 100% reflective, wheras snow is... well, you're right, nearly 100% reflective. |
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They've been trying this recently in the [Austrian?] Alps, on the Pitzal Glacier, with some success, apparently. (National Geographic, Feb 2006) Sorry, couldn't find a link. |
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Presumably the mylar would reflect the sunlight before it hit the main mass of snow, penetrating a few inches, and slightly warming that section of the snowfield... |
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How exactly do we get the mylar above newly fallen snow though? |
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//Well, mylar is nearly 100% reflective// Actually no, unless it's aluminized. |
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Ha! I read this as "mylar salivation." |
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D'oh! You got me, [jmvw] ;) |
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