Academic Vocabulary System Feedback

Feedback involves a loop

in which a signal or action
triggers another ­signal or
action. This can happen
when a microphone picks up
sound from a speaker that is
amplifying the microphone’s
signal. The equipment
passes the signal back and
forth, and it becomes louder
and harsher. What is one
form of feedback that you
encounter in your life?
Glaciers, part of the cryosphere, are large blocks of ancient
ice, usually found near mountains and in polar regions. Like
a freezer pack in a cooler, a glacier keeps the surrounding
air and land cool. But many glaciers are melting around the
world. As glaciers melt, they lose mass and volume and turn
into liquid water that drains away or evaporates. This allows
the land underneath to absorb more sunlight, which causes
the surrounding air and land to get warmer. The warmer air
makes glaciers melt even faster. This is an example of
feedback. The system returns, or feeds back, information
about itself, and that ­information results in change.

Positive and Negative Feedback Sometimes

feedback is negative: it causes a process to slow down, or go in
reverse. But some types of feedback are positive: they reinforce,
speed up, or enhance the process that’s already underway.
Feedback may result in stability or it may cause more change.
The melting glaciers are an example of positive feedback and
change. A similar process is causing change in the Arctic.

 READING CHECK Cite Textual Evidence  Name a reason

why melting glaciers are considered positive feedback.

Model It
Sea Ice and Climate
Figure 3 Liquid and solid water are
important factors in controlling climate.
A large body of water can absorb energy
from the sun, while snow or ice reflects
solar energy back into space. In recent
years, the amount of sea ice—frozen
water—in the Arctic Circle has been
dwindling because the air and water
have been warmer than usual. As more
Sea Ice
of the Arctic Ocean is exposed due to
loss of ice, it absorbs more sunlight and
gets warmer. This makes it less likely for
sea ice to form even when the air is well
below freezing.
CCC Energy and Matter   On
the image provided, draw and label a
cycle diagram for the feedback that is
occurring in the Arctic among ice, liquid
seawater, atmosphere, and solar energy.

Introduction to Earth’s Systems