Core Concept: Albedo is a simple concept that plays complicated roles in climate and astronomy

Dark objects left out in the sun get warm. Lighter-colored objects, not so much. On a planetary scale, this simple, familiar phenomenon—associated with a characteristic called albedo—drives weather and climate. On a regional scale, it can influence the melting of sea ice and glaciers. Open ocean and ice exhibit a big disparity in albedo. Sea ice covered with fresh snow reflects roughly 85% of…

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