Polar Albedo Feedback

Polar Albedo Feedback

From Watts Up With That, December 20, 2008

by Steven Goddard

Today is a day of note in Antarctic.  The sun has reached it’s highest point in the sky, and never sets.  The amount of incoming solar radiation is at it’s peak for the year, and the radiation balance is strongly affected by the reflectivity (albedo) of the surface.  Open ocean absorbs much of the the sunlight, whereas ice reflects it back out into space.One of the most popular global warming feedbacks is considered to be changes in the extent of polar ice.  The story goes that as the ice melts, more heat gets absorbed in the ocean, leading to higher temperatures.  Today we test that theory.

According to NSIDC, Antarctic ice extent is nearly 20% above normal, as seen in the graph and map below.

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