Peru inventor 'whitewashes' peaks to slow glacier melt

In a remote corner of the Peruvian Andes, men in paint-daubed boilersuits diligently coat a mountain summit with whitewash in an experimental bid to recuperate the country's melting glaciers.

It's a bizarre sight at 4,756 metres (15,600 feet) above sea level.

The man behind the idea is not a glaciologist but an inventor, Eduardo Gold. His non-governmental organisation Glaciares de Peru was one of 26 winners of the World Bank's "100 Ideas to Save the Planet" competition in November 2009.

Gold has already begun work while he waits for the 200,000-dollar prize money to fund his pilot project. His plan is to paint a total area of 70 hectares (173 acres) on three peaks in the Andean region of Ayacucho in southern Peru.

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Must say, although i agree with the sentiment of last quoted remark, better to try than not.

I also know and so concur, there's a lot more to it than just reflecting light waves to prevent conversion to heat when hitting dark areas absorbing more spectrum.

Comments?

Peace.

[edit on 4-7-2010 by DeltaPan]
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[edit on 4/7/2010 by ArMaP]

Plus when the glaciers inevitably melt, though it's been much slower than previous centuries and who knows when, the resulting water will be toxic as it will be laced with paint.

Now there's thinking!

Enviro-whacko's at their finest.

Almost as good as the idea to paint rooftops white in New York.

Like most liberal ideas, it doesn't matter if it works, it is the thought that counts.

It's almost as good as another enviro-whacko liberal idea of pushing out drilling 50 miles offshore in mile deep water, so if there was an accident our coastlines wouldn't be effected.