<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1522" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#800000>Trees are dark and matte textured, and therefore absorb more heat energy from the sun. They radiate this stored heat out into the surrounding ground and air, thereby melting the snow around them.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#800000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#800000>Cindy Rose</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>