|
Link list on albedo and albedo changes |
|
How does light work? These pages give a basic introduction of what light is and how it interacts with matter. They are helpful as an introduction: See a 5 mins film yon YouTube explaining absorption and reflection of light: The following page gives a definition of terms and an overview how light interacts with matter and water on a slightly more technical level:
|
|
Albedo of the Earth |
The ESPERE climate encyclopaedia gives an introduction to the albedo and compares albedos of different surfaces: You may also compare the explanation in Wikipedia: |
|
The albedo of the Earth changes with the seasons. It is shown here in an animation: … and for recent years also in NASA visualisations: |
|
Land cover and albedo changes |
When ice melts and turns into ocean water, the albedo decreases stepwise. See a graphic from UNEP: Various films from NASA illustrate the role of the cryosphere in the Earth’s radiation budget: Turning subpolar grasslands into forest may even lead to albedo changes, which offset the effect of the biomass’ carbon dioxide uptake. |
|
Aerosols, cloud cover and albedo changes |
The following ESPERE page explains the direct and indirect effect of aerosols on light coming from the sun. NASA reports that the aerosol dimming of our Earth has decreased: |
|
Interesting trends of the Earth’s albedo have been discovered with the help of the moon: Increasing the reflexion of sunlight by means of particles has been discussed in the context of geoengineering. Although the following block is not a scientific article, you may have a look on it to get an idea. |
|