Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
You probably know what ice is: that stuff you put in your drinks to keep them cool,
or some lyrics to the song "Ice Ice Baby"
But what is ice, and why do we care? Let's find out!
Ice is part of Earth's climate buffer system. Climate is the description of the long term patterns of weather
in a particular area. Ice regulates this, and keeps this juuust right for us.
The climate has a long term description- it can change, and be changed by- things like ice.
In fact, ice is one of the biggest factors in climate change.
But HOW?
Ice has a very reflective surface, due to its white color, which allows it to bounce the Sun's rays back into space.
This concept called albedo. Ice has a high albedo, meaning it reflects a lot of the Sun's rays,
helping maintain the average global temperature. Unfortunately,
heat is being trapped by these greenhouses, gases, which act as a blanket and insulate the earth.
Lately, an abundance of these gases, mainly due to human
activity, is causing our earth to start heating up. This global warming
acts in a positive feedback loop, by melting a lot of
ice, which means there's less ice reflecting the Sun's rays,
making the climate hotter.
NASA's working to stop these problems by starting missions to monitor ice levels, like the IceSats.
From these missions, NASA has created GLAS, which continuously takes pictures
of the Earth to provide data. This data can be used to predict climate changes
and ice reductions in the future, prepare us for the worst,
and help raise awareness. Beside the IceSats, Nasa has other programs,
such as the LandSat series, Operation Ice Bridge,
the Van Allen probes, and most recently,
the geosynchronous tracking and data relay tracking satellite, that are also collecting data.
If NASA, ONE organization, is doing this much,
how much can the whole population do? Most importantly-
How much can YOU do?