New research suggests that sea-salt aerosols seed large raindrops that starve clouds of water needed to make lightning. But not all scientists are convinced it’s simply about salt spray.
Lightning
Posted inNews
Gigantic Jet of Lightning Mapped over Oklahoma
The most powerful gigantic jet ever recorded fortuitously appeared over a sensor array in Oklahoma, enabling scientists to map the structure of the phenomenon for the first time.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Lightning in Alaskan Tundra Ignites Most Fires
Cloud-to-ground lightning is found to be the most important controller of wildfire occurrence in the Artic tundra of Alaska from 2001 to 2019.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Lightning Had Difficulty Forming in Early Earth’s Atmosphere
Lightning could have sparked the beginnings of life, but the primordial atmosphere might have made it more difficult for lightning to initiate.
Posted inNews
Cleaner Pandemic Air Led to Reduced Lightning Strikes Worldwide
As people stayed home during the COVID-19 lockdowns, air quality improved. But the improvement was accompanied by an unusual meteorological side effect: a decrease in lightning.
Posted inNews
Lightning Tames Typhoon Intensity Forecasting
Typhoons regularly drench densely populated western Pacific regions, but lightning could forecast intensity more than a day before a storm’s strength peaks.
Posted inNews
Have You Seen Ball Lightning? Scientists Want to Know About It
Reports of ghostly spheres of light are often too qualitative. These scientists want your detailed accounts.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Observations from Space and Ground Reveal Clues About Lightning
In a coordinated monitoring effort, scientists have uncovered the timing and triggering of high-energy lightning events in the sky.
Posted inNews
Cloud-to-Ground Lightning May Have Struck a Key Ingredient for Life
On early Earth, rock created by lightning strikes to the ground likely held a form of phosphorus necessary for prebiotic chemistry.
