melting

A change of state of matter, from solid to liquid phase. The melting of ice is one of the most common processes in the atmosphere. It occurs both in some hydrometeors as they fall (snow, hail...) and inside clouds or in ice masses, in contact with the air, located on the Earth's surface (glaciers, sea ice, ice or snow sheets...). For every gram of ice that melts, around 80 calories are absorbed from the air. This is what is known as the latent heat of fusion.