The Plastocene Blog: Solar Power Nerdiness and the Terrifying Problem of Albedo
„This is one of the feedback loops that makes today’s unfolding of climate change so worrying. A similar feedback mechanism exists on land. If snowfall decreases in the northern boreal forests, the white of the snow sitting on the trees is replaced by the dark color of the conifers’ needles and limbs. These absorb far more of the incoming solar energy than the snow. For the same reasons, the loss of glaciers in the mountains create hotter rocks and more evaporation of the water that remains.“