News Climate

Lightning strikes will surge with climate change

Research forecasts roughly 50 percent rise in U.S. thunderbolts over next century

Lightning

BOLSTERING BOLTS  Warming temperatures will cause more lightning strikes in the United States, new climate simulations predict.

James Loesch/FLICKR (CC BY 2.0)

By Thomas Sumner

- More than 2 years ago

Global warming could have an electrifying effect. Climate calculations suggest that U.S. lightning frequency will increase about 12 percent for every 1 degree Celsius in warming, researchers report in the Nov.