What are heat feedback loops?

Heat feedback loops are when something gets hotter, and that heat makes it even hotter, like a snowball rolling down a hill and getting bigger as it goes.

Imagine you're wearing a heavy coat on a hot day. Your body gets warm, so you sweat. But the sweat evaporates, which actually cools you down a bit, but if the sun is still shining strong, your body keeps heating up. That’s like a feedback loop: your body gets hotter, and that heat makes it keep getting hotter.

Think of Earth as a kid playing outside on a very hot day. The Sun shines down, warming the ground. The ground then warms the air around it, and the air traps more heat from the Sun, like a blanket. This makes everything even warmer, and that warmth makes the ground and air get hotter still.

It’s like when you leave your room with the lights on and the windows closed. It gets warm inside, so you turn on the fan, but the fan blows hot air around, making it feel even warmer!

So a heat feedback loop is just something that keeps getting hotter because heat helps make it keep getting hotter.