= Snow insulation and summer ice protection
At fixed boundary temperatures, a snow cover decreases winter conductive heat loss through the resistance $h_s/k_s+h_i/k_i$ and inhibits <sea ice> growth. Its high <albedo> and persistence into summer reduce ablation. Therefore annual equilibrium thickness has competing snow sensitivities. The near cancellation at modest snow depth and thickening with persistent summer snow in the original <Maykut-Untersteiner model> are forcing-dependent responses, not a universal monotonically decreasing snow-thickness relation.
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