Is air conditioning making cities hotter?

Re:Is air conditioning making cities hotter? by Dylan16807 on Sunday September 10, 2023 @04:34PM (#37459791)

"white" and "mirror" are equally good at bouncing light, and the exact effectiveness is based on the specific design.

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Re:Is air conditioning making cities hotter? by wolverine876 on Sunday September 10, 2023 @08:26PM (#37461454)

Please explain? Mirrors seem to reflect much more, but maybe that's another effect.

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Re:Is air conditioning making cities hotter? by Dylan16807 on Sunday September 10, 2023 @08:49PM (#37461580)

That's an illusion because from certain angles the mirror is much brighter, and you don't pay as much attention to all the angles where the mirror is darker.

An ideal mirror reflects 100% of the light, and so does an ideal white surface. The white surface just spreads out the light.

If you light a mirror evenly from all angles, it will be indistinguishable from a white surface.

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Re:Is air conditioning making cities hotter? by wolverine876 on Monday September 11, 2023 @12:04AM (#37462735)

Thanks. That was my first guess, that it was directional.

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