Albedo is the tendency of a surface to reflect solar energy instead of absorbing it, and snow and ice have a much higher albedo than water. Over the last several decades the amount of the Arctic Ocean that has ice on it has been decreasing, thereby exposing more and more of the Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere each summer. Would this cause the total absorption of heat in the Arctic to increase or decrease?

Question

Geography

Leilani Horn

30 September, 07:45

Albedo is the tendency of a surface to reflect solar energy instead of absorbing it, and snow and ice have a much higher albedo than water. Over the last several decades the amount of the Arctic Ocean that has ice on it has been decreasing, thereby exposing more and more of the Arctic Ocean to the atmosphere each summer. Would this cause the total absorption of heat in the Arctic to increase or decrease?

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Pennington · Answer 1

increase

Explanation:

The depletion of the ice sheets in the Arctic Ocean will expose more of the ocean to the incoming solar energy. Because water has a much lower albedo than ice, it absorbs more energy and so takes in more heat than did the sea ice. The net result is increased heat absorption and further loss of sea ice in the Arctic region.