2.2 Black carbon in snow and water in Iceland, the Faroes and Scotland.

2.2

Black carbon in snow and water in Iceland, the Faroes and Scotland

Did you know?

Black carbon contaminants come from industries from the south. They come from power plants, wildfires, agricultural crop residue burning, dust from soil and deserts, wood-burning stoves, automobile exhausts, etc.

The contaminants travel to the Arctic with the wind and air circulation.

The consequences of the contaminants include faster snow-melt. When the ice is less white, it can cause less sunlight to be reflected back into space – like wearing a white shirt on a hot day versus a black shirt – making the Arctic ice melt even more.

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Albedo Effect Activity

Albedo is a unit to describe how reflective an object or a surface is. We use this on Earth as a way to describe how much sunlight (heat) is reflected back into space from the surfaces of our planet. The albedo effect can have a negative impact on our climate. Scientists know that lighter surfaces reflect more light than darker ones, good examples of light surfaces that reflect 80–90% of sunlight are snow and ice. This reflection of sunlight is essential in keeping our planet cool. Without this reflection, Earth's temperatures would increase – causing many environmental problems worldwide by adding to the ongoing global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Which environment reflects the most light? Rank each environment from 1-4 on whether it is highly reflective (1) or whether it barely reflects at all (4).

Some surfaces might have similar reflectiveness so you can score these the same. As a bonus question, what are the three "fountains" in the first photo?