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1 year agoThe ice isn’t to cool the water, the ice is to reflect most of the incoming light.
Sea ice keeps the polar regions cool and helps moderate global climate. Sea ice has a much brighter surface compared to many other Earth surfaces, particularly the surrounding ocean. The darker ocean reflects only 6 percent of the sun’s energy and absorbs the rest, while sea ice reflects 50 to 70 percent of the incoming energy.
-- https://nsidc.org/learn/parts-cryosphere/sea-ice/quick-facts-about-sea-ice
Not really. Greenhouse gases don’t absorb all wavelengths of light. Generally they only absorb parts of the IR spectrum. The 50-70% of light reflected isn’t absorbed by greenhouse gasses because it’s not in a wavelength that it can absorb, it mostly radiates back into space.