The US Will See 50 Percent More Lightning Strikes, Thanks to Global Warming

[liberal N proud]

By now we're familiar with some of the scarier potential impacts of climate change: Floods, fires, stronger hurricanes, violent conflicts. Well, here's a new one to add to your nightmares. Lightning strikes in the continental United States will increase roughly 12 percent for every degree Celsius of global warming, a study published today in Science finds. If warming continues unchecked, that could translate into a 50 percent increase in lightning by the end of the century—three strikes then for every two strikes now. (On average, there are currently about 25 million strikes per year.)

Does this mean an increase your odds of getting struck by lightning? Technically yes, I guess, but I wouldn't worry about that. Instead, the increase matters because lightning strikes are the principle cause of wildfires, which are already predicted to become more severe due to global warming. In one 24-hour period in August, lightning in Northern California started 34 wildfires. The study doesn't make any specific predictions about wildfire activity, but knowing about future lightning conditions is an important part of that equation.

<snip>
This study presents a new proxy for lightning—a proxy that author David Romps of the University of California-Berkeley thinks is much stronger than any of the previous ones. It's actually a combination of two proxies: precipitation and "CAPE," a standard measure of the kinetic energy clouds hold as they rise in the atmosphere. Lightning is the product of electrical charges caused by ice particles of different densities colliding in clouds, so Romps chose factors that would be necessary for lightning to occur: Enough precipitation to form ice, and enough upward energy to keep the ice suspended.

Taken together, those proxies accurately predicted 77 percent of actual lightning strikes observed in the US in 2011 by a national web of electromagnetic sensors. That result, Romps said, is a sign that these proxies are "doing a remarkably good job" of representing lightning patterns.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/11/climate-change-means-more-lightning

[SamKnause]

1. I live on a 12 acre farm in Ohio.

I have lived here 12 years.

I have had 5 lightning strikes that I am aware of.

One strike took down a tree.

Two strikes took out my electric fence box.

Two strikes took out my AC.

[MindPilot]

2. That is amazing! I'm fascinated by lightning.

It has been many years since I have even seen lightning. It is very very rare where I live.

[liberal N proud]

4. We had thunder snow last night

Lightning and snow!

[lonestarnot]

3. Could we direct pugs to tall trees?