Does clearing snow contribute to climate change? I've been reflecting on climate change and pondering how much of it is truly man-made. Anyone who's shoveled a walkway know that the snow melts faster beside the walkway than it does in the middle of your yard. This is because you've exposed the ground which can absorb the sun's heat. Whereas the snow in the yard reflects it. 

The same is true of glaciers: They melt away from rock faces (ie, terminal morrains, bergschrunds, etc.), and as more of the Earth's surface is exposed, the more heat the surface of the Earth can absorb, and the faster the rest of the Earth's ice can melt. 

Consider the combined surface area of all the roads and parking lots that are cleared of snow each winter (as well as the increased number of roads and parking lots which capture a lot of heat each year). Snow clearing to the scale as is seen in recent decades far exceeds what has been accomplished in the past. Even as recently as the early 20th century people still made their way around on top of the snow in sleighs.

How much of a contributor to climate change can be attributed simply to roads and the relatively modern practice of snow removal?
Urban areas, where most snow clearing is done, are heat islands already, so it would be tough to disentangle the effect of clearing snow off roads.  Whitewashing black asphalt is one of the strategies being tried to reduce the heat effect in the summer, though, and black asphalt is seen as a big factor in heat islands, so it seems reasonable that exposing black pavement in winter would also have some impact, but detailed studies so far have mostly focussed on deadly summer heat, not winter effects.