What is albedo?

Albedo is a measure of the reflectivity of a surface or object. It is the ratio of the amount of light reflected by an object to the amount of light incident upon it. Albedo is typically expressed as a value between 0 and 1, where 0 represents a perfectly black surface that absorbs all incident light, and 1 represents a perfectly white surface that reflects all incident light. Albedo plays a significant role in climate science, as it affects the amount of solar radiation absorbed or reflected by the Earth's surface, influencing temperature and climate patterns. Different surfaces, such as ice, water, forests, or deserts, have different albedo values, which impact their ability to absorb or reflect sunlight.