When electromagnetic energy from the sun hits the Earth’s surface, one of three things happen: The radiation is either reflected by the surface or absorbed or transmitted by it.

To make this complicated, the same object, for instance a leaf, may both reflect, absorb and transmit the radiation that hits it. The green leaf absorbs more radiation in the red and blue parts of the visible spectrum (since the leaf’s chlorophyll uses these wavelengths for photosynthesis), while reflecting a predominance of green light, thus the leaf looks green. If you hold the leaf up to the sun, it may appear translucent. This is some of the radiation being transmitted all the way through the leaf.

A white surface, such as a snow-covered ice sheet or a cloud, reflects equal amounts of radiation of all wavelengths of visible light (albedo).