Answer:
Differences in Albedo contribute to temperature differences between the polar and equatorial regions because areas with high albedo deflect off about 80% of the sun's radiation thus resulting in a cooler atmosphere whilst regions with a lower albedo are more heated thus resulting in a hotter or more tropical weather.
Explanation:
Albedo in Latin simply means whiteness. In geography, it is used to describe the extent to which the earth's surface absorbs deflects the sun's radiation. For example, an area covered with snow will most likely have a high albedo and the obverse is also true.
The laws of physics help us to understand that a black object has the capacity to absorb all the wavelengths of light hence, they absorb more heat. White objects on the other hand reflect all the wavelengths of light, hence they absorb the least amount of heat.
This is also true of geographical spaces. There are two major kinds of albedoes:
- Terrestrial Albedo and
- Extraterrestrial (or Astronomical) Albedo.
Terrestrial Albedo surfaces comprise fo the following:
- Bare soil
- Conifer forest
- Deciduous forest
- Fresh asphalt
- Green grass
- Ocean ice
- Open ocean
- Worn asphalt
All the surfaces mentioned above have their albedo. The typical range is given as 0.9 for fresh snow to about 0.04 for charcoal.
In effect, if the entire planet were covered with snow, it would give rise to a global temperature of 0 degrees because all the light and it's heat energy would be reflected back into space.
If however, all of it were covered with water, the global temperature would stand at 27 degrees.
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