I said Albido Effect Monk!
And as you know what this effect is, you can explain it to the FM masses.
Nope, sorry mate, cant remember what I copied from you at Uni???
Oh OK, Err off the top of me head
The albedo is a measure of reflectivity of a surface or body. It is the ratio of electromagnetic radiation (EM radiation) reflected to the amount incident upon it. The fraction, usually expressed as a percentage from 0% to 100%, is an important concept in climatology and astronomy. This ratio depends on the frequency of the radiation considered: unqualified, it refers to an average across the spectrum of visible light. It also depends on the angle of incidence of the radiation: unqualified, normal incidence. Fresh snow albedos are high: up to 90%. The ocean surface has a low albedo. Earth has an average albedo of 31% whereas the albedo of the Moon is about 12%. In astronomy, the albedo of satellites and asteroids can be used to infer surface composition, most notably ice content. Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has the highest known albedo of any body in the solar system, with 99% of EM radiation reflected.
Human activities have changed the albedo (via forest clearance and farming, for example) of various areas around the globe. However, quantification of this effect is difficult on the global scale: it is not clear whether the changes have tended to increase or decrease global warming.
The "classical" example of albedo effect is the snow-temperature feedback. If a snow covered area warms and the snow melts, the albedo decreases, more sunlight is absorbed, and the temperature tends to increase. The converse is true: if snow forms, a cooling cycle happens. The intensity of the albedo effect depends on the size of the change in albedo and the amount of insolation; for this reason it can be potentially very large in the tropics.