Lightning Patterns Change with Global Climate Change
Newcastle University researchers have learned that climate change could lead to more lightning strikes over mountains, and in Northern Europe, and less lightning over central Europe.
They also predict that climate change could lead to “more frequent storms with more energy, but locally less lightning mainly due to less cloud ice and frozen particles in storm clouds, with warming.”
They say these changes could also lead to an increased risk of wildfires over the mountains and in Northern Europe. But on the upside, there could be “relatively fewer lightning hazards over more populated areas of Central Europe.”
More research is needed, so that scientists can make recommendations about critical infrastructure systems. And they hope to make recommendations about policies which are relevant for adaptation planning. Adapting to the newer location likelihoods, and planning for them, could save lives.
It’s not clear if the lightning patterns will change over the United States or North America.
Learn more, here: (EurekAlert!)
