Below are some examples of the dramatic temperature changes
just from slightly altering the earth’s albedo and greenhouse factor:
ALBEDO & RESULTING SURFACE TEMPERATURES
PLANET WITH SURFACE FEATURES AND NON-ABSORBING ATMOSPHERE
Degrees: Kelvin Centigrade FahrenheitZERO = default setting 278.6 5.5 41.9
(meaning all incoming solar radiation is absorbed by planet’s surface)
When changed to 0.1 271.4 -1.8 28.8
When changed to 0.2 263.5 -9.6 14.7
When changed to 0.5 234.3 -38.8 -37.9
When changed to 0.75 197.0 -76.1 -105.0
When changed to 1.00 0.00 -273.2 -459.7
(meaning all incoming solar radiation is reflected by planet’s surface)GREENHOUSE FACTOR & RESULTING SURFACE TEMPERATURES
PLANET SURFACE FEATURES AND ABSORBING ATMOSPHERE
Note: Albedo reset to zero (default)
Degrees: Kelvin Centigrade Fahrenheit
ZERO = default setting 278.6 5.5 41.9
When changed to 0.1 283.0 9.9 49.8
When changed to 0.5 298.9 25.7 78.3
When changed to 1.0 315.7 42.5 108.5
When changed to 1.1 318.7 45.6 114.0
When changed to 1.2 321.7 48.5 119.4
This is an interesting website and although I did not post all the figures,
you can change the albedo and the greenhouse factor at the same time
or keep one constant and alter the other.
Either way, it is easy to see how small variations can have big effects.
Source: http://icp.giss.nasa.gov/education/geebitt
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