Arctic icecap under threat
Because a vast amount of energy is needed to thaw ice, glaciers and icecaps act as an energy barrier against the planet overheating. They also act as vast mirrors reflecting a significant proportion, as much as 70 per cent of the Sun’s heat, back into space. For this reason it is of great concern that soot from millions of open fires of Indian women cooking their family meals is wafting into the atmosphere to fall out on Arctic ice thousands of kilometers away. Minute soot particles warm up the air. They also darken the surface of the ice when they fall out in the Arctic causing the darker surface to absorb more sunlight, which causes the ice to melt faster.