Impact of soot deposited onto snow and ice surfaces in the Arctic

Impact of soot deposited onto snow and ice surfaces in the Arctic. Polar ice reflects light from the sun back to space (a). As the ice begins to melt, less light is reflected and more is absorbed by the oceans and surrounding land leading to an increase in overall temperature and further melting. Darker, soot-covered ice reflects even less light and, thus, enhances the warming (b)