Striking when hot, and more when hotter

Abstract

Climate Change Lightning occurs more frequently when it is hotter than when it is colder, but how much more lightning should we expect as global temperatures increase? Currently there are around 25 million lightning strikes per year. Romps et al. constructed a proxy based on the energy available to make air rise in the atmosphere and on precipitation rates to model the frequency of lightning strikes across the continental United States. They predict that the number of lightning strikes will increase by about 12% for every degree of rise in global average air temperature. Science , this issue p. [851][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1259100