Sun’s Activity Triggers Lightning Storms on Earth
- 10 years ago
Solar activity has been known to cause lightshows on Earth, but mostly of the benign, Northern Lights variety.
Solar activity has been known to cause lightshows on Earth, but mostly of the benign, Northern Lights variety.
Scientists recently discovered that solar wind might very well be responsible for boosting the frequency of potentially dangerous lightning storms, as well.
Observations showed a marked increase in the occurrences of lighting for up to 40 days after the sun’s winds made contact with the Earth’s atmosphere.
They have no definitive explanation at this time, but believe it could be the result of one electrically charged particle changing another.
If that turns out to be the case, it could give meteorologists an extra means of predicting when storms are likely to hit and how strong they will be.
As satellites and spacecraft heavily monitor the sun and its weather, the technology for gathering the information is already in place.
The study used data that had been collected in northern Europe.
Based on it, in the 40 days following the arrival of solar winds, instances of lightning strikes increased from an average of about 320 to over 420.
The next step is to track the energy particles along their path to get a more precise assessment of their influence.
Solar activity has been known to cause lightshows on Earth, but mostly of the benign, Northern Lights variety.
Scientists recently discovered that solar wind might very well be responsible for boosting the frequency of potentially dangerous lightning storms, as well.
Observations showed a marked increase in the occurrences of lighting for up to 40 days after the sun’s winds made contact with the Earth’s atmosphere.
They have no definitive explanation at this time, but believe it could be the result of one electrically charged particle changing another.
If that turns out to be the case, it could give meteorologists an extra means of predicting when storms are likely to hit and how strong they will be.
As satellites and spacecraft heavily monitor the sun and its weather, the technology for gathering the information is already in place.
The study used data that had been collected in northern Europe.
Based on it, in the 40 days following the arrival of solar winds, instances of lightning strikes increased from an average of about 320 to over 420.
The next step is to track the energy particles along their path to get a more precise assessment of their influence.