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The Arctic
Open water only reflects 4-10 per cent of the sunlight back, depending on the angle of the coming solar radiation. In other words, watery surfaces absorb 90-96 per cent of the solar energy falling on them. Dark soils and dark coniferous forests also have a very low albedo, typically less than 10 per cent.
The drastic reduction of snow and ice cover on the northern areas threatens to accelerate the overheating of our planet. The melting process now taking place in the world's polar regions might reduce the Earth's reflectivity by more than 3 percentage points within a relatively short period of time.
Atmosmare -Foundation is working on ideas and techniques to slow down this worrying trend.
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