Will we trigger an Ice Age by warming the planet to its "Tipping Point?"
A planet's albedo is a measure of it's reflectivity. That is, of every one unit of light shone on the earth, how much of it gets reflected.
Earth's albedo is 0.39. Well, it was when that group brought out their album by that name in the late 70s.
I'm not sure what happens to the other 0.61 that presumably remains behind. Let's assume for the moment it's converted into greenery by photosynthesis. At any rate, cloud cover must play a huge part in earth's albedo, because we know that diminishing ice ocver at the poles is allowing the oceans to warm fast because dark blue (the color of the ocean) absorbes more light and heat than does white (the color of snow and ice).
What if all this global warming significantly increases the amount of cloud cover? Wouldn't that be an automatic "safety valve" on the planet's temperature? In other words, the more it heats up, the more clouds appear, and the more the planet's atmosphere reflects light?
I, for one, would be happier with twice the number of gray days if it meant the planet didn't heat to the point where it destroys possibly all life on the planet.
It might be problematic for the production of food, but cloud cover is a heck of a lot better for your skin.
At a certain point of warming, perhaps it will "swing back like a pendulum". Perhaps once a significant cloud cover stage begins, it triggers an Ice Age.