use the information to answer the question. students in two different schools live near areas with frozen sea ice. they notice that the ice melts at different rates in the two areas even though the air temperature is about the same. the students wonder why the ice melts at different rates. they find data to answer the question.

percentage of melt and albedo in different areas
| | melt pond fraction (%) | albedo (%) | surface air temperature (°c) |
|----------|------------------------|------------|------------------------------|
| area 1 | 35 | 60 | 1 |
| area 2 | 12 | 90 | 1 |

data source: jeffries et al., doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1567-2015, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0.

words to know
- melt pond fraction: the percentage of the area covered by melted ice
- albedo: percentage of solar energy that is reflected instead of absorbed

one student thinks a feedback process causes the difference in melting.
which reasoning best explains the feedback process?

a. areas with more melting reflect less solar energy, which causes more melting.

b. areas with more melting absorb less solar energy, which causes the release of more heat.

c. areas that reflect more heat also produce extra heat, which causes higher air temperatures.

d. areas with higher temperatures have more melting, which causes the area to reflect more heat.

Question

use the information to answer the question. students in two different schools live near areas with frozen sea ice. they notice that the ice melts at different rates in the two areas even though the air temperature is about the same. the students wonder why the ice melts at different rates. they find data to answer the question.

percentage of melt and albedo in different areas
|          | melt pond fraction (%) | albedo (%) | surface air temperature (°c) |
|----------|------------------------|------------|------------------------------|
| area 1   | 35                     | 60         | 1                            |
| area 2   | 12                     | 90         | 1                            |

data source: jeffries et al., doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1567-2015, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0.

words to know
- melt pond fraction: the percentage of the area covered by melted ice
- albedo: percentage of solar energy that is reflected instead of absorbed

one student thinks a feedback process causes the difference in melting.
which reasoning best explains the feedback process?

a. areas with more melting reflect less solar energy, which causes more melting.

b. areas with more melting absorb less solar energy, which causes the release of more heat.

c. areas that reflect more heat also produce extra heat, which causes higher air temperatures.

d. areas with higher temperatures have more melting, which causes the area to reflect more heat.

Accepted Answer

# Brief Explanations:
To solve this, we analyze each option using the definitions of melt pond fraction and albedo (percentage of solar energy reflected).

- Option A: Areas with more melting (higher melt pond fraction, like Area 1 with 35% vs Area 2's 12%) have lower albedo (60% vs 90%), meaning they reflect less solar energy. Less reflection means more solar energy is absorbed, which causes more melting (positive feedback). This matches the data (Area 1 has more melting, lower albedo).
- Option B: If an area melts more, it should absorb more (not less) solar energy (since lower albedo means less reflection, more absorption), so B is incorrect.
- Option C: The table shows surface air temperature is the same (1°C) for both areas, so "higher air temperatures" is wrong.
- Option D: More melting (lower albedo) means less reflection (not more), so D is incorrect.

# Answer:
A. Areas with more melting reflect less solar energy, which causes more melting.

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