3 ms·
there's a couple things going on there. Photsynthesis isn't absorbing much its ~1-2% efficiency (so mostly just waste heat) but plants are mostly water which ha
by Avshalom 3y ago
there's a couple things going on there. Photsynthesis isn't absorbing much its ~1-2% efficiency (so mostly just waste heat) but plants are mostly water which has a high heat capacity so it warms slower than a kiln dried wood structure. Wood/bark is also way less reflective than concrete and (living) plants respond to heat by opening up pores and letting water evaporate out of them (basically sweating) which can lower the dry bulb temperature (especially if there's any breeze).
- sampo 3y agoIn infrared, green leaves are more reflective than bare soil or concrete.
- nostromo 3y agoTrees also act as thermal sinks. They transfer surface heat down into their roots, where it is cool underground.
- eep_social 3y agoMore precisely, the temperature underground is very stable. At 8-12 feet there is little to no variation over the course of a year. So in a cold season it will be warmer underground than ambient (this is why foundations are dug “below the frost line”) while the opposite is true during a warm season.
- luma 3y agoWould evaporative cooling due to transpiration have a significant impact?