Three successive thunderstorms formed in the Arctic last week, a rare phenomenon in the frigid north, but one that is likely to become more common as the planet warms, Reuters reported.
Three successive thunderstorms formed in the Arctic last week, a rare phenomenon in the frigid north, but one that is likely to become more common as the planet warms, Reuters reported.
“I have no memory of three consecutive days of this kind of thing,” Rick Thoman, a climate scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told Reuters. “What used to be very rare is now just rare.”
Typically, the Arctic lacks the heat needed to generate thunderstorms, as sea ice keeps the ocean surface cool. But with climate change, Arctic waters are warming, and the ice is melting rapidly. The decline of sea ice has made more liquid water available to evaporate, adding more moisture to the atmosphere.
Since 2010, incidents of summer lightning in the Arctic Circle have tripled, according to a recent study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Lightning has even struck within 60 miles of the North Pole, researchers found.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
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