Sea Ice and the Earth System Story Map: Review

Let's review what we've learned so far.

Earth's Energy Budget

The Earth is constantly trying to maintain a balance between the energy that reaches Earth from the sun and
the energy that flows from Earth back out to space.

ARCTIC SEASONS

Earth rotates upon its axis

Earth's axis is tilted to an angle
of 23.5 degrees

The tilted axis always points in
the same direction as Earth
orbits the sun

Different parts of Earth get the
sun's direct rays throughout
the year

When the South Pole tilts

toward the Sun, it’s winter in

the Northern Hemisphere.

When the North Pole tilts

toward the Sun, it’s summer in

the Northern Hemisphere.

ARCTIC SEASONS

​The amount of radiation (energy) (from the sun) that is absorbed or reflected (bounced back) depends on the surface.

​

The measure of reflectivity of a surface is called albedo.

• Light colored surfaces like ice reflect more sunlight than dark surfaces like dirt or soil.

• Dark surfaces have a low albedo and absorb more sunlight then they reflect.​

ICE-ALBEDO FEEDBACK

Sea ice has a much higher albedo
compared to other earth surfaces, such as
the surrounding ocean.
Because the sea ice absorbs less solar
energy, its surfaceremains cooler.

ARCTIC ALBEDO

Positive Feedback

If Earth’s climate is colder and there is more snow and ice on the planet, more solar radiation is reflected back out to space and the climate gets even cooler.

On the other hand, when warming causes snow and ice to melt, darker-colored Earth surface and ocean are exposed and less solar energy is reflected out to space causing even more warming.

This is known as the ice-albedo feedback.

• Albedo is the % of sunlight reflected by a surface.

• Ice has a very high albedo

• Albedo has a heavy influence on Earth's energy budget.

• Earth is always trying to balance incoming and outgoing energy.

• Sunlight in the Arctic is dependent on seasons, which is due to Earth's tilt.

Earth's Energy Budget

What have we learned?

Albedo