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Originally Posted by bugalugs
You are talking about albedo - the amount of sunlight a body reflects
Perhaps the show you watched didn't explain it clearly. I think they were trying to say that the sea ice in Alaska will reflect 70% of the light hitting the sea ice in Alaska - not the light hitting the whole world.
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Maybe they were mistaken because they said the world.
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Reflected light is also reflected heat. If AGW causes surface temperatures to rise and ice/snow to melt, it is predicted that the loss of snow will reduce the earth's albedo, creating a feedback mechanism that thereby further increases warming. However - higher temperatures may also result in more water vapour and more clouds and hence an increased albedo - leading to some amount of cooling.
Which scenario is correct? I don't know - but it is one more factor in the complexities of global climate that suggest it is a good idea to try to limit the emissions that may impact on global climate.
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Ok good enough. I guess the global warming scientists were just wrong on the show.
Maybe you answered it already but I have not seen it.
Earlier in the thread a poster explained that humans provide something like 2% of the CO2 the rest is natural, and if you factor in water vapor we provide something like .02%.
How can such a small amount honestly be expected tip the scales to disaster?