The albedo effect refers to how much sunlight is reflected back into the atmosphere.
Forests in areas with snow cover can affect the total climate effect. For open areas that would otherwise have a white snow cover in winter, the albedo effect can to some extent reduce or offset the effect of increased CO2 uptake.
The albedo effect tells us how much light a surface reflects. Light surfaces, such as snow, reflect a lot of sunlight and thus have a high albedo. A dark surface will absorb a lot of sunlight and thus reflect little sunlight. Dark surfaces therefore have a low albedo.
A forested landscape where it does not snow will therefore absorb more light than an open landscape that is covered by snow for part of the year. Coniferous forests absorb more sunlight than other forests, such as deciduous forests. Therefore, it will often be warmer along the ground in a spruce forest, while it is cooler in a deciduous forest. Regional conditions such as precipitation, cloud cover, temperature, wind and the direction of sunlight influence the albedo effect.
read more about the albedo effect.
