The melting of polar ice caps decreases the absorption of solar energy. This is because ice has a high albedo, meaning it reflects a lot of sunlight back into space. When ice melts, it is replaced by water, which has a lower albedo and absorbs more sunlight. This absorbed sunlight warms the Earth's atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

The reason the sun appears brighter when it snows is also related to albedo. Snow reflects a lot of sunlight, making everything around it appear brighter. This is why sunglasses are recommended even on cloudy days when there is snow on the ground.

Here is a table summarizing the effects of ice and snow on solar energy absorption:

SurfaceAlbedoAbsorption of solar energyIceHighLowWaterLowHighSnowHighLow

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As you can see, ice and snow both have high albedos and reflect a lot of sunlight back into space. Water, on the other hand, has a low albedo and absorbs more sunlight. This is why the melting of polar ice caps and glaciers is a major concern for climate scientists.

Dr Murtadha Shukur thank you for your contribution to the discussion

An albedo of 0.4 means that 40% of the incident solar radiation is reflected. The remaining 60% is absorbed by the surface. Snow and ice surfaces generally have a high albedo, ranging from 0.4 for ice to 0.9 for clean and fresh dry snow. Absorption of visible and near-ultraviolet radiation by ice is so weak that absorption of sunlight at these wavelengths in natural snow is dominated by trace amounts of light-absorbing impurities such as dust and soot. Bright surfaces like snow, ice, and clouds reflect the most energy (white), while dark surfaces like open ocean absorb the most (dark blue). The amount of solar radiation that is reflected from a surface is called albedo. Snow covered surfaces, such as the polar ice caps reflect between 80‐90percent of light energy away from their surface and therefore have a high albedo. Darker colored surfaces reflect less solar radiation and retain a greater amount of heat. Thus, the proportion of Earth's surface that is covered by ice and snow affects how much of the Sun's solar radiation is absorbed, warming the planet, or reflected. Therefore, snow and ice which are covered in soot from pollution no longer reflect sunlight, but absorb it and so melting increases. The sea ice absorbs less solar energy and keeps the surface cooler. Snow has an even higher albedo than sea ice, so thick sea ice covered with snow reflects as much as 90 percent of the incoming solar radiation. This serves to insulate the sea ice, maintaining cold temperatures and delaying ice melt in the summer.Snow and ice can reflect 50- 90% of incoming sunlight. As the Earth's average temperature rises, snow and ice cover decreases, increasing the amount sunlight being absorbed, and further contributing to global warming. Understanding how much energy from the Sun is reflected back out to space and how much is absorbed becoming heat is important for understanding climate. If Earth's climate is colder and there is more snow and ice on the planet, albedo increases, more sunlight is reflected out to space, and the climate gets even cooler.