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VICEnvironmental ScienceQuick questions
Unit 4: How can climate change and energy use be managed?
Quick questions on Earth's climate system and energy balance (four spheres, albedo, radiation budget): VCE Environmental Science Unit 4
2short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are earth's four interacting systems?Show answer
Climate emerges from the interaction of four systems, often called spheres, which constantly exchange energy and matter:
What is albedo?Show answer
Albedo is the proportion of incoming solar radiation that a surface reflects back to space, expressed from 0 (absorbs everything) to 1 (reflects everything). Bright surfaces have high albedo: fresh snow and ice reflect most sunlight, so they stay cool and keep the planet cool. Dark surfaces have low albedo: open ocean, forests and dark soil absorb most sunlight and warm up.
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