n class we introduced the idea of albedo, and discussed how to measure the albed
ID: 153113 • Letter: N
Question
n class we introduced the idea of albedo, and discussed how to measure the albedo of a surface. In this reflection, we would like you to explore the how changes in albedo can affect global temperatures. We are asking you to here to perform a few thought experiments in which you think through how the Earth’s temperature would react to perturbations which change the Earth’s albedo. The idea of how albedo changes can affect global temperatures is fundamental to understanding how global average temperature is maintained on Earth, and why Earth is capable of sustaining life. Many of the specific examples that we are asking you to think though in this thought experiment are also going to turn out to be very important for understanding how the Earth responds to global warming. In fact, some of these examples are going to play a prominent role in our discussion of “Climate Feedbacks”, which will come up in about a month, after we have built a basic understanding of the greenhouse effect.
For this week’s reflective writing, we would like you to consider how the albedo changes in each of the following scenarios would change global temperature. Explain your reasoning in each case. In each case, you will need to refer to the following table of typical albedos.
Albedo Approximate Values:
Glacial ice: =0.80
Ocean Surface: =0.07
Marine Stratus Clouds: Highly variable, but =0.60 is a reasonable number.
Desert Sand: =0.40
Grasslands: =0.20
Bare rock: =0.30
Scenario #1: As the Earth warms, we observe that most of the glaciers and ice sheets on Earth have been getting smaller. About 10% of the land surface of Earth is covered by glaciers and ice sheets, with most of this ice on Greenland and Antarctica. Suppose that all of this ice were to melt. How would this change the Earth’s albedo? And how would we expect the Earth’s temperature to change as a result of this change in albedo? Why would you expect to see this type of change? (you will need to use some of the numbers in the table to answer this question).
Albedo Approximate Values:
Glacial ice: =0.80
Ocean Surface: =0.07
Marine Stratus Clouds: Highly variable, but =0.60 is a reasonable number.
Desert Sand: =0.40
Grasslands: =0.20
Bare rock: =0.30
Explanation / Answer
Answer)
Global warming is a serious issue of concern for the people on the Earth. Glacial ice have been melting due to the continued effects of global warming. The glacial ice has an albedo of 0.85. If it melts at this rate, then the albedo becomes less on the Earth, it will have a measure of about 0.10, which is of water, oven surface has an albedo of 0.06
Decrease in the albedo accounts for the decrease in ratio of the reflection of the radiation from surface to the received. The albedo of earth is 0.30, which means it reflects 30% of the radiation. global warming melts polar ice caps, reducing their albedo. As a result the albedo of earth reduces, and the earth's temperature increases. This is due to the reduction of ice covered areas on earth, more amount of radiation is reflected back, than absorption.
An glacial ice has albedo of 0.80, while ocean has albedo of 0.07. If temperature of earth increases,the polar ice covers keep melting reducing the albedo of ice, this will reflect more solar energy, warming up the climate. The increase in the temperature of the earth, will radiate more solar energy from the surface, the atmospheric temperature will hence increase. The clouds have an albedo of 0.60, which will reduce, due to hike in temperature. The clouds will reflect lesser solar energy, which will contribute to global warming and temperature rise.Desert sand and rock have a comparitively lower albedo than ice, about 0.4 and 0.3 respectively. Therefore they have a warmer surface than ocean and glacial ice.
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