New research from James Madison University suggests that air pollution is increasing the severity of summertime thunderstorms. The study was conducted over three years and analyzed more than 500,000 storms throughout Washington D.C. and Kansas City.
"Pollution acts as cloud nuclei. It gets brought into the cloud through the updraft; the updraft and downdraft then separate the pollution particles, which divides the electrical charges in the cloud and leads to more lightning production," said JMU geography professor Mace Bentley.
In the research, published in Atmospheric Research, the team utilized 12 years of lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network as well as pollution data from hundreds of monitoring stations in the two cities. Ultimately the team determined that adding more pollution to areas with high instability results in an increase of cloud-to-ground lightning.
Bentley is continuing the research to include Bangkok, a megacity with a warmer climate and increased pollution. The data thus far shows similar patterns to the D.C. and Kansas city data, just with elevated lightning rates. "It looks like no matter where you go in the world, urban pollution is capable of enhancing thunderstorms and lightning," he said.