What happens to sunlight when it hits snow and what happens to the sun's energy when it hits clouds ice and snow?
When sunlight hits snow, several things happen:
In the case of clouds, ice, and snow, the sun's energy is either reflected back into space or absorbed and converted into heat. The amount of energy that is reflected or absorbed depends on the properties of the surface, such as its albedo (reflectivity) and its temperature.
Clouds reflect a significant amount of sunlight, with their albedo ranging from about 0.2 for dark storm clouds to 0.8 for bright cumulus clouds. This reflection helps to cool the Earth by preventing some of the sun's energy from being absorbed.
Ice and snow also reflect a significant amount of sunlight, with their albedo ranging from about 0.6 for dirty snow to 0.9 for fresh snow. This reflection helps to keep the Earth's polar regions cool.
When sunlight is absorbed by clouds, ice, or snow, the energy is converted into heat. This heat can help to warm the air above the surface, and it can also melt ice and snow.
The sunlight was not absorbed by the ice and snow and instead was reflected away. 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.Glaciers have white surfaces that reflect the Sun's rays. This helps keep our current climate mild. When glaciers melt, darker surfaces are exposed, which absorb heat. This raises temperatures even more. Sunlight, shortwave radiation, passes through the atmosphere. Most of Earth's energy comes from the Sun. 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.More than 80 to 90 percent of the sunlight falling on fresh snow is reflected back into space, compared to 15 to 35 percent of the sunlight reflected by most ice. Albedo is the ability of a surface to reflect sunlight (solar radiation). Snow and ice have high albedo – much of the sunlight hitting surfaces covered with snow and ice bounces back. In contrast, dark earthy surfaces have a low albedo, therefore, they absorb more sunlight. All things absorb and reflect energy from the Sun. Bright surfaces, like snow, ice, and clouds, reflect more energy than they absorb. Dark surfaces like a forest or the ocean absorb more energy. The absorbed energy heats the surface, and it radiates heat back into space. More UV radiation reaches the earth's surface in alpine regions than at sea level because the atmosphere is thinner at higher altitudes. Snow is highly reflective of UV radiation. In fact, fresh snow reflects even more UV radiation than water.
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