The Japan Times Online June 22の記事 "Reflecting on a potential cure for warming" からの抜粋です。
We need to turn down the heat -- and fast. To this end, albedo modification -- a kind of geoengineering intended to cool the planet by increasing the reflectivity of the Earth’s atmosphere -- holds tremendous promise.
Injecting synthetic aerosols that reflect sunlight into the stratosphere, for example, could help counter the warming caused by greenhouse gases. The mechanism is similar to wearing a white shirt in the summer: white reflects sunlight and cools what is underneath, whereas darker colors absorb sunlight and heat.
"albedo modification" の意味は説明があるので分かりますが、"albedo" と言う言葉は初めて知りました。一応辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: The proportion of the incident light or radiation that is reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon.: Taking characteristic values for the average albedo (the fraction of sunlight reflected), size limits could be calculated.
・Vocabulary.com: Albedo refers to how reflective and bright something is. Snow has a high albedo, which is why skiers wear sunglasses and sunscreen.
Technically speaking, the albedo of an object is a ratio. It compares the amount of light hitting the surface of the object to the amount of light that gets reflected back. The more light reflected, the higher the albedo. Scientists often use this word in reference to the surfaces of planets and other reflective objects in the night sky. Albedo comes from a Latin word for “white.”
"albedo" で "albino" を連想したのですが、やはり白と関係があったのですね。すると "album" も白と関係するのではと思い、 "album" の語源も調べると:
・Oxford English Dictionary: Early 17th century: from Latin, neuter of albus 'white' used as a noun meaning 'a blank tablet'. Taken into English from the German use of the Latin phrase album amicorum 'album of friends', it was originally used consciously as a Latin word with Latin inflections.
"albedo" から脱線しましたが、"albxx" は白と関係すると予想するのは当たっているようです。