The US National Lightning Detector Network was used to predict a 50 percent increase in lightning strikes during this century due the increased temperatures associated with climate change. A team of researchers from UC Berkley has calculated that for every two lightning strikes in 2000, there will be three lightning strikes in 2100.
The researchers also calculated that for every one degree Celsius rise in global temperature there would be an increased frequency of lightning strikes by 12 percent. With warmer temperatures, thunderstorms become more explosive due to an increase of water vapor in the atmosphere. Water vapor is the fuel that creates explosive deep convection in the atmosphere.
Read more how global warming could lead to increase lightning strikes.
