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Published online 15 January 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.33
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Crops that cool
Could shinier farmland help combat global warming?
A team of researchers at the University of Bristol, UK, is suggesting that changing the crops farmers grow might help to cool the planet by reflecting more sunlight.
Plants with waxy coatings on their leaves reflect more sunlight than their plainer-surfaced relatives.
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The following might be of interest on the use of highly reflective microcrystals ("micromirrors") for increasing terrestrial albedo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4B_dnIMiaA This may be a more feasible approach as compared to other proposals.