Question

1. ice age

the ability of a surface to heat up depends of its albedo (a measure of how much light it reflects). highly reflective surfaces like ice and snow heat up slowly, while poorly reflective surfaces like asphalt or dark rocks heat up faster and stay hot longer. when the average global air temperature drops, more of the earth’s surface becomes covered with ice and snow. ice and snow are highly reflective, so the earth surface is not able to heat well, which leads to even lower air temperatures and greater areas of the earth covered with ice and snow. many of the earth’s ice ages have been possible because of this feedback.

a. identify which of the earth systems are involved in this feedback:

b. draw a diagram of the feedback loop:

c. identify whether this feedback is positive or negative:

Explanation:

Step1: Identify Earth - systems involved

The atmosphere (air temperature) and the cryosphere (ice and snow) are involved. The atmosphere's temperature change affects the extent of the cryosphere, and the cryosphere's albedo affects the heating of the atmosphere.

Step2: Draw feedback - loop diagram

It can be drawn as follows:

1. Start with "Decrease in average global air temperature".
2. Arrow to "Increase in ice and snow coverage on Earth's surface".
3. Arrow to "High albedo (high reflection) of Earth's surface".
4. Arrow to "Poor heating of Earth's surface".
5. Arrow back to "Further decrease in average global air temperature".

Step3: Determine feedback type

This is a positive feedback loop. In a positive feedback loop, a change in a system leads to further changes in the same direction. Here, a decrease in temperature leads to more ice and snow, which further decreases the temperature.

Answer:

a. Atmosphere and cryosphere.
b. See above - described diagram steps.
c. Positive feedback.