As snow is white and shiny, it has a strong reflective quality, meaning the sun that reflects off the surface of the snow can be blinding if care isn’t taken to protect your eyes. These are snow goggles designed by Inuit people to shield the eyes from this bright light and let them walk outside safely. In global terms, the reflectiveness of snow leads to a phenomenon known as the albedo effect, meaning that the snowy parts of the earth reflect sunlight back into space, keeping the climate cool. As the climate starts changing and becoming warmer, we are starting to lose the snow and ice cover we used to have, which also reduces the earth’s ability to cool itself and may lead to a runaway effect where the earth keeps getting more and more warm.

What’s the coldest place you’ve ever been to?