True or false?Global Warming is accelerated by the reduction of global snows and ice cover.Why?

Question

True or false?Global Warming is accelerated by the reduction of global snows and ice cover.Why?

Answer 1

less reflection of the sun

Answer 2

TRUE!

Try this simple experiment.

In a parking lot,it doesn't have to be be a hot day,only sunny.

Find two cars, one white,one black.

Touch them.

Which one is hotter?

The Arctic ice sheet is setting records for the extent of summer ice melt!  Has the weather been acting kinda weird where you live?  Here near Seattle, we've had to have the heater on several times this summer! Two days ago, there was a small tornado, on a day that the weather was supposed to be just scattered showers. We never get tornadoes here!   Would a category 7 hurricane be a sign of climate change?  Are you ready?

Answer 3

True it's a twofold dilemma. Not only does a perfect white body have a albedo of 100% but in the Equatorial belt/Rain forest the sun shines more frequently.

Answer 4

I suspect that is the main reason we are in our current Ice Age.  When the continents neared the poles, it provided a trap for ice and this allowed for Milankovitch cycles of glaciation and interglacial periods.  

Answer 5

true

Answer 6

Well, because ice and snow are melting, earth is getting warmer.  

Answer 7

True

The albedo effect.

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Albedo

Answer 8

melting ice exposes more oceans and land which reflect less radiation.

Technically it's true  - just like it's true that if you spit in the ocean, the sea level rises.

The significance of feedback mechanisms is often overstated by alarmists.

Answer 9

True.

Reduced snow and ice reduces the Earth's albedo, allowing the absorption of more sun light.  More long wave radiation is then emitted resulting in more warming.  Consistently less snow and ice indicates the air is now warmer. The warmer air holds more water vapor which will further accelerate warming.  The melting of the sea ice and reduced snows from the warming happen in parallel to the thawing of the permafrost which releases more CH4 and CO2, further accelerating the warming.  With less snow and ice, decay can occur for longer periods adding more CO2 into the atmosphere. Decay is probably the biggest natural factor adding CO2 to the air and this can be a huge feedback (one of the largest).  

Changing snow packs will also change water availability.  Not as much snow, not as much summer water in the west for example.  The water may not be available for forests to use when the growing season starts.  Snow melt releases water slowly over the course of a spring and the soil has water available in the spring and early summer for forest growth.  Less water means more stress on the forests and more insect outbreaks.  This will cause more die backs, more decay and larger forest fires such as Canada and the American west have experienced over the past decade.  All of this adds to more CO2 in the air.

Also, the changing the salinity of the ocean water from melting sea ice and glaciers by adding more freshwater the impacts ocean surface currents and can lead to disruption of these currents which pump heat from the equator to the poles.  This may counter some of the warming if we are lucky, but Europe may not like it much. The effect of this is very uncertain. It will affect precipitation patterns, for example. Changing precipitation patterns means changing forest and plant habitats, again causing massive die backs, decay, and fires.

This is not a good thing to rush into.  These changes are currently occurring much faster than the natural rate. It takes plants more than a few hundred years to migrate, although humans will be planting them as conditions change.  Typically, plants need 1000s to 10,000s of years dependent on species to migrate.  The plants are some of the first indicators that the carbon/climate system is out of balanced. Affecting the carbon/climate system will ultimately affect human welfare. The more slowly these changes occur (as close to the natural rate of change as possible) the better.  It gives our ecosystems time to adjust and reduces the impacts that humanity will ultimately need to deal with.

Answer 10

Short term yes, but it's a loop cycle like all others. The only argument would be, what is short term.

Answer 11

phil is totally right, lighter things like snow and ice reflect heat but when they melt and expose dark things like water mountain tops etc it absorbs heat...here is an example..

on a hot day are you warmer with a black shirt or white...black cause it attracts heat and light..

=) hope i was helpful ...

Answer 12

Ice reflects light (and heat).  As temperatures rise, ice melts and exposes the darker surfaces below (water or ground).  These surfaces absorb heat and slowly contribute to global warming.  This is a positive feedback referred to as the "ice albedo feedback".