Specifically, land and sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic has a prominent role in modulating climate through ice-albedo feedbacks. This occurs due to ice being ‘white,’ thus reflecting incoming solar radiation and helping to maintain both temperature and ice masses.
However, as climate warms and ice melts, more of the comparatively darker land and sea surface is exposed, which absorbs the incoming solar radiation, warming the ambient environment further and causing additional melting, and so the loop continues.
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Specifically, land and sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic has a prominent role in modulating climate through ice-albedo feedbacks. This occurs due to ice being ‘white,’ thus reflecting incoming solar radiation and helping to maintain both temperature and ice masses.
However, as climate warms and ice melts, more of the comparatively darker land and sea surface is exposed, which absorbs the incoming solar radiation, warming the ambient environment further and causing additional melting, and so the loop continues.