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smurficus103 t1_jdxqpmx wrote

Reply to comment by leekle in The Greenland Ice Sheet is close to a melting point of no return by Vucea

Liquid water absorbs radiation and converts it into heat; snow / white ice reflects a bunch of radiation back out.

Once a region melts, it's tough to reverse it. It's kind of a feedback loop.

It's gonna still snow and shit, but have more and more liquid water

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codemajdoor t1_jdz253o wrote

Also, the latent heat of ICE is 80 i.e.. the energy it takes to melt ice can raise temprature of same amount of water by 80C so its a double wammy. not only you are absorbing more energy, you are also heating much faster and thus creating more melt/vapor.

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