Pollution boosts risk of lightning

Pollution in the form of aerosols heightens the risk of lightning strikes, say researchers in Israel, Mexico and the US.

The scientists came to the conclusion by correlating the amount of aerosols globally with the record of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, while excluding weather as a possible influence. Some 70% of the areas studied exhibited more lightning strikes from polluted skies rather than clean skies. […]

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