'Space' kangaroo shines light on global warming

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

MELBOURNE (AFP) — A giant white kangaroo bounced into the science books on Tuesday as part of a global experiment to measure the amount of light the Earth reflects back to the sun.

The cardboard cut-out marsupial, which measures 32 metres (105 feet) by 18 metres, was laid out in a paddock on the grounds of Monash University in the southern city of Melbourne.

"We call it our kangaroo from space because two satellites flew over (and) what they were doing was measuring the amount of light reflected from our kangaroo," Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich told AFP.

"And the point of that was to make people aware that reflected light, or lack of reflected light, has a very big effect on climate."

Scientists are concerned that the melting of the polar ice caps,...