Earth & Climate
Why?
Why Melting Ice Speeds Up Warming
Why does melting polar ice make the planet warm even faster?
Quick check · tap an answer to continue
Lesson notes
Key points
- Because ice and snow have high albedo, reflecting most incoming sunlight straight back to space.
- Because when ice melts, it exposes darker ocean or land that absorbs far more of that sunlight.
- Because the extra absorbed energy warms the region further, which melts even more surrounding ice.
Definitions
- Albedo
- The fraction of incoming solar radiation a surface reflects, from 0 (absorbs all) to 1 (reflects all).
Takeaway: So ice-albedo feedback amplifies warming, fastest at the poles.
Quick check: What happens to surface albedo when sea ice melts into open water?
- It increases
- It stays the same
- It decreases
Open water is darker than ice, so it reflects less sunlight.
High albedoDarker surfacePositive feedback
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