Lightning Strikes More Often in Skies Full of Pollution, Study Shows
2:46:55 2024-09-18 263

Human-driven changes to the natural environment have knock-on consequences that aren't immediately obvious: air pollution, for example, has now been linked to an increase in the frequency of lighting in thunderstorms.

Researchers from James Madison University (JMU) in Virginia looked at data from more than 500,000 thunderstorms across Washington, DC, and Kansas City over the course of 12 years, finding that having more fine particles in the air (aerosols) is broadly linked to a higher number of lighting strikes.

The relationship between aerosols and lightning has been studied befor, but it's something that scientists are still trying to get a proper assessment of, because of the many different atmospheric factors at play.

"Pollution acts as cloud nuclei," says geographer Mace Bentley, from JMU.

"It gets brought into the cloud through the updraft; the updraft and downdraft then separate the pollution particles, which divides the electrical charges in the cloud and leads to more lightning production."

The team looked at PM2.5 (particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometers) and PM10 (up to 10 micrometers) in the environment, comparing them to thunderstorm activity. It seems that the concentration of these particles has more of an influence than their size.

While more particles generally means more lightning, according to the data, there comes a point where having too many particles in the air actually seems to reduce the amount of lighting – perhaps due to a loss of energy inside the storm.

These are scenarios with a huge number of variables – and multiple other factors, from air currents to land cover, also play a part. That said, while the associations outlined here are complex, they seemed to be the same in both cities studied.

"It looks like no matter where you go in the world, urban pollution is capable of enhancing thunderstorms and lightning," says Bentley.

The study turned up some other interesting findings too: thunderstorms were most common in both locations on Thursdays. Monday was the quietest day for thunderstorms in Washington, DC, while it was Friday for Kansas City.

It was also observed that when there was most energy in the atmosphere – influenced by factors such as temperature and humidity – then the levels of air pollution had the most impact on the number of lighting strikes.

This gives us a greater understanding of how fluctuations in air pollution might continue to reshape meteorological patterns. Next, the researchers want to take a look at this relationship in other parts of the world, while also adding more measurements to the mix to see just how much of an effect aerosols are having.

"The environments will be analyzed for differences between urban initiated thunderstorms versus those across the greater region to evaluate the impacts of pollution," write the authors in their published paper.

 

Reality Of Islam

Patience

5:26:59   2024-10-04  

Thinking

2:10:40   2024-10-01  

Calling Others to Virtue

3:43:27   2024-09-30  

Miracles

3:55:36   2024-09-29  

A Mathematical Approach to the Quran

10:52:33   2024-02-16  

mediation

2:36:46   2023-06-04  

what Allah hates the most

5:1:47   2023-06-01  

allahs fort

11:41:7   2023-05-30  

striving for success

2:35:47   2023-06-04  

Imam Ali Describes the Holy Quran

5:0:38   2023-06-01  

livelihood

11:40:13   2023-05-30  

silence about wisdom

3:36:19   2023-05-29  

MOST VIEWS

Importance of Media

9:3:43   2018-11-05

Illuminations

your character

2:33:4   2023-02-15

pure nature

7:34:7   2023-02-28

loyalty is strength

10:55:53   2022-06-13

education importance

7:26:19   2022-04-08

think well

8:39:51   2022-09-23

prophet adam & the apple

1:16:44   2018-05-14

humanity

6:28:21   2022-12-20



IMmORTAL Words
LATEST Brain Tricks and Tips for Improving Your Memory How to Resolve Sibling Conflict Creatively Commentary of Surat al-Rahman on advent of Zaman - Verses 31-40 Patience Nearly 40% of Young People Could Be Shortsighted by 2050 NASA Turns Off Voyager 2 Science Instrument as Power Supply Declines An Act of River Piracy Could Explain Why Everest Grew So Tall Why We Need to Feel Sad After a Failure Does Your Child Procrastinate? Commentary of Surat al-Rahman on advent of Zaman - Versese 21-30 Thinking Scientists Find 3,600 Food Packaging Chemicals in Human Bodies