How does the cryosphere affect global climate?. (UPSC IAS Mains 2017 General Studies Paper – 1)
Cryosphere is the frozen water part of the Earth system - snow cover, permafrost, sea ice. It impacts global climate in a variety of ways:
- Snow and ice have a high albedo, reflecting back a significant amount of solar radiation back into space. In this way, cryosphere acts as an important cooling factor in the global climate system.
- Snow and ice act as an insulating layer over land and ocean surfaces, holding in heat and moisture that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere. This insulation, then, also acts to cool the global climate.
- Since cold polar seawater is dense due its high salinity and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, spreading out across the globe and acting as a pump which drives oceanic circulation that transfers energy between the equator and the poles – acting as a conveyor belt.
The cryosphere is highly vulnerable to global warming. Therefore, any change in its composition is likely to have great side-effects on the global climate.
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