Professor Mace Bentley of James Madison University had a friend who lived on Atlanta’s Eastside and noted that his TVs and VCRs would malfunction after multiple lightning hits during thunderstorms that would sweep across the vast Southeast city to the west. It was a rather small problem. Bentley and his colleague were informed by the fire chief of a nearby station that he “hardly” had “enough trucks to send out for these fires that are occurring from lightning strikes.” This and more hearsay motivated Bentley to examine the information further. Bentley stated, “We found… there’s more lightning that’s occurring downwind from the city,” after surveying data sets. It appeared as though the city was genuinely intensifying lightning to create this.
Bentley has carried out same research once more, this time concentrating on Virginia. He released research in July that demonstrates that between 2006 and 2020, during the months of May through September, lightning strikes rose in tandem with rising urban pollution levels, especially in the Washington, D.C. metro region. The study provides an examination of the probable current effects of climate change in the area. The majority of climate change research and media coverage focuses on global climate change. Bentley stated, “We didn’t want to consider climate change from the perspective of what will occur in 20 years.” “We want to know where and how much human activity is currently affecting the climate?” Reviewing the collected data on lightning strikes was part of the investigation.
Bentley then searched for levels of particulate matter 2.5 and particulate matter 10, which are microscopic carcinogens that are 2.5 and 10 microns in diameter, respectively, and originate from tailpipe emissions, industrial and manufacturing activity, and a number of other sources. The data came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s hourly air quality monitoring program. The next step of the investigation was to ascertain when there were high values of CAPE, or convective available potential energy, a statistic that indicates when atmospheric conditions are favorable for lightning activity. When pollution enters the mix during those “dog days of summer,” when hot, humid air is at ground level and cooler air is above, the CAPE increases and more lightning flashes occur, according to Bentley.
According to Bentley and his colleagues, pollution is “affecting thunderstorm development, electrification, and thunderstorm intensity over time.” However, pollution cannot produce additional lightning strikes until the proper CAPE conditions are met, according to Bentley. “We cannot predict that because it is a polluted day, thunderstorms will occur. It’s not true as stated. “Pollution acts as a catalyst,” Bentley remarked. “A thunderstorm is like a fire accelerant once it occurs.”
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