albedo, definition of

The fraction of the total solar radiation incident on a body that is reflected by it. Albedo can be expressed as either a percentage or a fraction of 1.

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  Guest post by Philip Mulholland 1. Introduction. The following two figures, showing the principal features of the Earth’s Energy Budget, were published in 1997 by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OK-First) and are reproduced here with kind permission....
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Related Tags: environment

The ratio of reflected to incident light; albedo can be expressed as either a percentage or a fraction of 1. Snow covered areas have a high albedo (up to about 0.9 or 90%) due to their white color, while vegetation has a low albedo (generally about 0.1 or 10%) due to the dark color and light absorbed for photosynthesis. Clouds have an intermediate albedo and are the most important contributor to the Earth's albedo. The Earth's aggregate albedo is approximately 0.3.

• Ocean Temperature Limit – Corrections and Part 4
  Current climate models parameterise clouds and atmospheric water is treated as a “Greenhouse Gas” when it exists in the atmosphere as gas, liquid and solid...
• Ocean Surface Temperature Limit-Part 3
  Climate models are based on a flawed assumption. Until they can replicate the actual physics of deep convection tightly linked to surface temperature rather than the naive parameterisation of clouds they will remain nothing more than extended weather...
• A pertinent climate question
  How much of a change in cloudiness would it take to account for the 0.53 W/m2 increase in TOA radiative forcing since 2003?
• Study: China’s Clean Air Policies are Triggering Additional Global Warming
  According to a study whose authors include Ken Caldeira, China's efforts to eliminate its infamous air pollution could cause an additional 0.1C NH warming, because less sunlight will be reflected by aerosols. However, despite suggesting China's improved...
• An Analysis of the Earth’s Energy Budget
  Guest post by Philip Mulholland 1. Introduction. The following two figures, showing the principal features of the Earth’s Energy Budget, were published in 1997 by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OK-First) and are reproduced here with kind permission....
• NASA finds dirty glaciers in Alaska – may melt faster
  Over the years, scientists have captured spectacular photographs while mapping ice during NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission. Many of the photographs have featured the icy landscapes of Greenland and Antarctica, over which lengthy missions are flown...
• Recycled science: Reflective surfaces alleviate heatwaves
  From ETH ZURICH and the “obvious science” department comes this study that is little more than a recycle of what is already understood about crops and “shininess”, back in 2009 – reflective surfaces absorb less heat during...
• Surprise! Greenland ice sheet melting being driven by ice-loving algae
  From the American Geophysical Union and the “but we’ll still find a way to blame CO2, just you wait” department. It seems this is a frustrating day for climate-ice researchers, earlier, it was found that ice cores used to determine ancient...
• Study: Ice sheets may melt rapidly in response to soot from distant volcanoes
  Study of ancient eruptions shows modern ice sheets could be vulnerable From THE EARTH INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY and the “dirty ice” melts faster department Volcanic eruptions have been known to cool the global climate, but they can...
• Astronomers discover that exoplanet WASP-12b is "darker than asphalt"
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Related Tags: climate change, global warming, environment