Question

As the land surface cover or land use changes, the albedo may also change. Consider how the following events might affect local and/or global climates: tilling, clear-cutting, desertification, the northward migration of the boreal forest, changes in global snow cover extent, changes in sea ice extent, sea level rise.

Answer 1

albedo is the amount of energy absorbed by the surfac eof earth per unit energy falling on it

tilling : the soil tilling causes greater surface area of soil exposed to atmosphere and hence may increase he albedo of local area, causing increase in temperatures

clear cutting : causes oxygen breathing plants to dissapear , hence causing loss of moisture from the air and increase in temperatures as well. so over all we have drier and hotter winds

desertification : causes land to become drier, causing albedo to increasing as sand absorbs more energy than soil. the color of the soil if lightens by the desertification may cause decrease in albedo due to increased reflectivity of the soil

northward migration of boreal : causes population stress along areas with low temperatures, causeing these regions to become hotter and contribute significantly to global climate change, as hotter northern regions cause change in the wind patterns due to the global temperature differences

changhes in global snow cover : as a result of global warming the snow caps are already melting, further increasing albedo of the earth as snow reflects most of the enrgy tha falls on it. this aggravates the situation as more heat is absorbed by the planet now causing more global warming

changes in sea ice extent : again, the albedo of earth increases, and so do the temperatures, effecting marine life as well

sea level rise decreases land area and increases water area. now land absorbs more energy thasn water and hence albedo of the earth decreases as less energy weill be absorbed by the more percentage of surfac eof earth now covered by water due to global rise in sea levels