Tropical and sub-tropical rainforest areas have low albedo, and are much hotter than their temperate forest counterparts, which have lower insolation
Arctic regions notably release more heat back into space than what they absorb, effectively cooling the Earth
This feedback loop results in a reduced albedo effect
Climate and weather

Albedo affects climate by determining how much radiation a planet absorbs
The uneven heating of Earth from albedo variations between land, ice, or ocean surfaces can drive weather
The response of the climate system to an initial forcing is modified by feedbacks: increased by "self-reinforcing" or "positive" feedbacks and reduced by "balancing" or "negative" feedbacks
The main reinforcing feedbacks are the water-vapour feedback, the ice–albedo feedback, and the net effect of clouds
Albedo–temperature feedback

When an area's albedo changes due to snowfall, a snow–temperature feedback results
A layer of snowfall increases local albedo, reflecting away sunlight, leading to local cooling
However, because local weather is dynamic due to the change of seasons, eventually warm air masses and a more direct angle of sunlight (higher insolation) cause melting
Snow
Snow albedo is highly variable, ranging from as high as 0.9 for freshly fallen snow, to about 0.4 for melting snow, and as low as 0.2 for dirty snow
Over Antarctica snow albedo averages a little more than 0.8
Just as fresh snow has a higher albedo than does dirty snow, the albedo of snow-covered sea ice is far higher than that of sea water
Sea water absorbs more solar radiation than would the same surface covered with reflective snow
The extra absorbed energy heats the sea water, which in turn increases the rate at which sea ice melts
As with the preceding example of snowmelt, the process of melting of sea ice is thus another example of a positive feedback
Both positive feedback loops have long been recognized as important for global warming
Cryoconite, powdery windblown dust containing soot, sometimes reduces albedo on glaciers and ice sheets
The dynamical nature of albedo in response to positive feedback, together with the effects of small errors in the measurement of albedo, can lead to large errors in energy estimates
Small-scale effects
Albedo works on a smaller scale, too
Solar photovoltaic effects 
Albedo can affect the electrical energy output of solar photovoltaic devices
Research showed impacts of over 10% for vertically (90°) mounted systems, but such effects were substantially lower for systems with lower surface tilts
Spectral albedo strongly affects the performance of bifacial solar cells where rear surface performance gains of over 20% have been observed for c-Si cells installed above healthy vegetation
Trees

Forests generally have a low albedo because the majority of the ultraviolet and visible spectrum is absorbed through photosynthesis
For this reason, the greater heat absorption by trees could offset some of the carbon benefits of afforestation (or offset the negative climate impacts of deforestation)
In other words: The climate change mitigation effect of carbon sequestration by forests is partially counterbalanced in that reforestation can decrease the reflection of sunlight (albedo)
In the case of evergreen forests with seasonal snow cover albedo reduction may be great enough for deforestation to cause a net cooling effect
Trees also impact climate in extremely complicated ways through evapotranspiration
The water vapor causes cooling on the land surface, causes heating where it condenses, acts a strong greenhouse gas, and can increase albedo when it condenses into clouds
Scientists generally treat evapotranspiration as a net cooling impact, and the net climate impact of albedo and evapotranspiration changes from deforestation depends greatly on local climate
Mid-to-high-latitude forests have a much lower albedo during snow seasons than flat ground, thus contributing to warming
Modeling that compares the effects of albedo differences between forests and grasslands suggests that expanding the land area of forests in temperate zones offers only a temporary mitigation benefit
In seasonally snow-covered zones, winter albedos of treeless areas are 10% to 50% higher than nearby forested areas because snow does not cover the trees as readily
Deciduous trees have an albedo value of about 0.15 to 0.18 whereas coniferous trees have a value of about 0.09 to 0.15
The result is that wavelengths of light not used in photosynthesis are more likely to be reflected back to space rather than being absorbed by other surfaces lower in the canopy
Studies by the Hadley Centre have investigated the relative (generally warming) effect of albedo change and (cooling) effect of carbon sequestration on planting forests
They found that new forests in tropical and midlatitude areas tended to cool; new forests in high latitudes (e.g., Siberia) were neutral or perhaps warming
Water

Water reflects light very differently from typical terrestrial materials
The reflectivity of a water surface is calculated using the Fresnel equations
At the scale of the wavelength of light even wavy water is always smooth so the light is reflected in a locally specular manner (not diffusely)
The glint of light off water is a commonplace effect of this
At small angles of incident light, waviness results in reduced reflectivity because of the steepness of the reflectivity-vs.-incident-angle curve and a locally increased average incident angle
However, as mentioned above, waviness causes an appreciable reduction
Note that white caps on waves look white (and have high albedo) because the water is foamed up, so there are many superimposed bubble surfaces which reflect, adding up their reflectivities
Fresh 'black' ice exhibits Fresnel reflection
Snow on top of this sea ice increases the albedo to 0.9
Clouds
Cloud albedo has substantial influence over atmospheric temperatures
Different types of clouds exhibit different reflectivity, theoretically ranging in albedo from a minimum of near 0 to a maximum approaching 0.8
"On any given day, about half of Earth is covered by clouds, which reflect more sunlight than land and water
Aerosol effects
Aerosols (very fine particles/droplets in the atmosphere) have both direct and indirect effects on Earth's radiative balance
