albedo
al-BEE-doh
Definition
The proportion of incident solar radiation reflected by a surface, commonly used to describe the reflectivity of ice or snow.
Etymology
Derived from the Latin word 'albedo' meaning 'whiteness,' which is the feminine form of 'albus' meaning 'white.' It entered English in the mid-19th century as a technical term in astronomy and later meteorology.
In the news
The article describes 'ice-albedo feedback' as a process where the accumulation of reflective snow and ice causes more solar energy to be bounced back into space, which helps cool the surrounding environment and further sustains the ice sheet.
Antarctica developed a continental-scale ice sheet 34 million years ago while Earth was about 5°C warmer than today — helped by slow-moving mantle waves that had spent more than 100 million years lifting its interior high enough for permanent ice to surviv
Read the full article ↗Space Daily