14 DAY TRIAL // As global warming progresses, numerous research teams around the world are scrambling to figure out the full extent of the damage the phenomenon will have. A new study revealed that climate change will lead to the formation of fewer, but more intense lightning and thunderstorms.
Tel Aviv University investigators found that each 1-degree increase in global temperatures will lead to a 10 percent increase in the intensity of lightning activity, as well as to more flash floods, wild fires, and power grid damage, Science Blog reports.
Scientists believe that the climate will also become drier in already-dry areas, and wetter in other areas, as global warming progresses. This will lead to increased number of faster-spreading, lightning-triggered wildfires, such as the ones that recently ravaged Colorado and Wyoming.
“During El Nino years, which occur in the Pacific Ocean or Basin, Southeast Asia gets warmer and drier. There are fewer thunderstorms, but we found fifty percent more lightning activity,” TAU experts say.