Since December 1998, photometric observations of the bright and dark side of the Moon have been regularly carried out at Big Bear Solar Observatory, with the aim of determining a precise and absolutely calibrated global albedo of the Earth. The up-to-date synoptic, seasonal and long term variation in the Earth's albedo are reported in this paper, toghether with comparison with modelled albedo using modern cloud satellite data and Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) scene models. The Earth's albedo has a major role in determining the Earth's climate. During the past 4 years, a significant increasing trend in the averaged Earth's reflectance has been detected in the observational data. More scarce data from 1994 and 1995 allow us to take a longer-term look at the Earth's albedo variability and the possibility of a response of this parameter to solar activity is discussed. Simultaneously, spectroscopic observations of the earthshine have been carried out at Palomar Observatory. First results and comparison between the spectral and photometric observations are also being presented.