Does the Presence of Ice Sheets Affect Earth's Energy Balance?

[shmijda]

Homework Statement

The presence of a huge ice sheet helps support itself by changing the amount of energy the Earth receives.Question 13 options:
True
False

Homework Equations

none

The Attempt at a Solution

Ice sheets have high albedo, therefore Earth gets less solar energy?

 

[Borek]

Sounds OK to me.

Although discussing it in terms of "Earth receives" is an exaggeration, we talk about the local situation. It can be easily seen even on just a few square feet of snow how prominent is the effect of having clean white surface vs "dirty" snow.

 

[shmijda]

Thank you!