By Alexandra Witze
Lightning is striking the Arctic many times more often than it did a decade ago, (click here) a study suggests — and the rate could soon double. The findings demonstrate yet another way Earth’s climate could be changing as the planet warms, although not all researchers agree that the trend is real.
Robert Holzworth, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Washington in Seattle and leader of the study, defends the findings. “We’re seeing a symptom of global climate change,” he says. Holzworth is director of the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), the collection of ground-based sensors that measured the data. He reported the results on 8 December at a virtual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (and published them before peer review as a preprint1).
Another lightning-detection network, whose records do not extend as far back as those Holzworth studied, does not find the same increase.
Whether or not lightning is increasing in the Arctic could have a significant impact on the region. The past two years have set records for the largest area of land burnt by wildfires — some of them ignited by lightning — and the most carbon dioxide emitted in the Arctic since records began. More lightning would mean even more chances that wildfires will start, which could in turn put even more climate-altering soot and gases into the air....
