
This brief explores time and location variations of albedo (the measurement of solar energy reflected from Earth’s surface back into space). The factors used to translate albedo to radiative forcing (the measurement of agents that impact energy balance and, therefore, climate change) are often reported as a single, global average. This brief asserts that albedo is highly context-dependent, varying by time, location, and surface characteristics, and shows that increasing the albedo of an area could have positive impacts on Global Warming. MORE